Student accuses GA senator of snatching cell phone when questioned about Kemp

ATLANTA — A viral video of a Georgia Tech student and Georgia Sen. David Perdue has some experts concerned about the “weaponization of cellphones.”

The student recorded video of what appears to be Perdue snatching a cellphone out of his hand after Perdue didn’t want to answer questions about the governor’s race.

Perdue says he was merely trying to take a selfie with the student.

The unidentified student ambushed Perdue during the senator’s visit to the Georgia Tech campus.

Perdue supports Brian Kemp for governor and the student wanted to ask him questions about voter registration.

“You stole my property. You stole my property,” the student says in the video.

“You wanted a picture. I’m going to give it to you,” Perdue responds.

Sumter Alton is friends with that student. Both are members of the Young Democratic Socialists of America.

“Now that we’ve got this technology, you know, we can capture these moments on camera and kind of unearth the broader trend of lying and running away from constituents,” Alton said.

Perdue’s office tells a different story, saying the senator was simply trying to take a picture like he’s done many times before.

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“When he realized they didn’t actually want to take a picture, he gave the phone back,” the senator’s office said in a statement.

A political expert told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot that these kinds of incidents are on the rise and he’s worried they could get dangerous.

Kennesaw State University political scientist Kerwin Swint called it the weaponization of technology -- people on both sides of the political debate ambushing politicians with nothing more than a cellphone.

“I’m concerned. I think our politics is in a very dangerous place,” Swint said.

He says he’s noticed an uptick in the use of cellphones to “get” candidates. It happened to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams when cellphone video captured her saying the so-called blue wave includes illegal immigrants, Swint said.

The video was used by some right-wing pundits who believe she was wanting illegal immigrants to vote.

The Abrams campaign said her comments in that video were taken out of context.

Swint says this new type of cellphone ambush activism could be dangerous.

“I’m afraid someone is going to get hurt. It’s only a matter of time until one of these incidents goes bad,” he said.

Cox Media Group