Student to file lawsuit alleging Sen. David Perdue snatched phone

ATLANTA — The Georgia Tech student whose smartphone was allegedly snatched by U.S. Sen. David Perdue in a viral video announced plans Sunday to file a lawsuit against the Georgia Republican.

The firm helmed by state Rep. David Dreyer, D-Atlanta, and former Atlanta mayoral candidate Michael Sterling said it's set to file a civil battery complaint in Fulton State Court on Monday on behalf of the student.

Perdue's office did not immediately comment on the litigation, which seems designed to try to attract national attention ahead of a volatile midterm vote.

It comes a little more than a week after Georgia Tech’s Young Democratic Socialists of America posted a video showing a confrontation with Perdue after one of its members asked about his support for Brian Kemp.

Perdue’s camp previously chalked the episode up to a misunderstanding. A spokeswoman said Perdue thought he was being asked to take a picture and went in to take a selfie.

“When he realized they didn’t actually want to take a picture, he gave the phone back,” she said.

The Georgia Tech student previously told the AJC that he had requested that the senator take a picture with his friend so he could ask a question and record the encounter, but declined when Perdue asked for his phone to take a selfie.

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"And then I started recording," said the student, who asked for anonymity out of fear of retribution and is not identified in the press release announcing the legal complaint.

He said that’s when Perdue “snatched my phone with the intent of stopping me from recording.”

Cox Media Group