No charges in Georgia lawmaker grocery store dispute

FILE - In this May 7, 2019 file photo Rep. Erica Thomas, D-Austell, speaks during a news conference in Atlanta. Thomas says she was verbally attacked in a supermarket by a white man who told her, "Go back where you came from." Rep. Erica Thomas of Austell tearfully described the confrontation in a Facebook video Friday, July 19, 2019. She acknowledged being in an express line with too many items but said she got in the line because she is nine months pregnant and cannot stand for long periods. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

ATLANTA — Police say they will not file any charges in the dispute between a black Georgia lawmaker and a white man she accused of verbally assaulting her for having too many items in a grocery checkout line.

Cobb County Police spokesman Sergeant Wayne Delk said Tuesday that authorities investigated and won’t charge anyone. The dispute happened Friday at a Publix grocery store in Mableton, Georgia.

In a widely shared Facebook video, a tearful state Rep. Erica Thomas accused a man later identified as Eric Sparkes of racism. She said he told her, “You need to go back where you came from.”

Thomas is a Democratic lawmaker from Austell. She is nine months pregnant.

Sparkes admitted cursing at Thomas but says he didn’t tell her to “go back where you came from.”

The Associated Press