Georgia lawmaker says man told her to "go back" to where she came from; man denies allegation

WASHINGTON – A man accused of telling an African-American Georgia state lawmaker to "go back to where you came from" because she had too many items in the express checkout line at a grocery store disputes her version of events and denies that he said anything racist.

Tearing up in an emotional Facebook live video, state Rep. Erica Thomas, who has represented parts of Cobb County, Georgia, since 2015, described the incident on Friday in which she said she "feared for her life" after a white man "verbally assaulted."

A black member of Georgia’s House of Representatives said she had been the target of verbal harassment and had been told “go back where you came from” at a grocery store near Atlanta on Friday.

In a video posted to her Facebook account, the representative, Erica Thomas, said she was “shocked” that a white man had confronted her for having too many items in the express checkout lane at a Publix grocery store in Mableton, Ga.