Hide Your Phones!
Personal rights aren’t a factor to everyone.
Privacy has always been a subject of interest for most among the current generation. Some say it is a God given right, while others say it is a privilege. Some people, however, see to it that it doesn’t fit into either category. One such individual, including a certain Senator, would land in this threshold.
On his latest visit to Georgia Tech University, GOP Senator David Perdue spent a few hours with students, answering their questions about various topics. In one instance, however, he immediately came under fire for “stealing” a student’s phone. The student was asking him questions about Brian Kemp’s scheme to threaten voter registrations from African Americans. Seeing as Perdue was campaigning for Kemp, his motives seemed clear: deter any disillusions about him in any way, shape or form. And he showed that he will do whatever it takes to keep Kemp in a good light.
The interaction is brief and the video quality is shaky, but before the video cuts off, you can clearly hear the student’s desperation once his phone is out of his possession. Seeing as the student is unable to even complete his sentence before Perdue steals his phone is upsetting enough. The student starts off by asking Perdue about “how can he endorse a candidate-” but before he can finish his thoughts, Perdue cuts him off by saying “No, I’m not doing that” before taking his phone.
The student calmly states to Perdue “You stole my property,” followed by “Give me my phone back, Senator.” Perdue responds with: “You wanted a picture? I’m going to give you a picture.” The student’s phone was returned roughly thirty seconds later.
It’s easy to think of his actions as simply wanting to defend his candidate without actually defending him, but Perdue went on to say that he thought the student “simply wanted a picture with him”. He then returned the phone to the student as a result of the mistake.
It’s hard to look at the situation as a “mistake”, per say, since the student directly addresses him endorsing his candidate before he can answer. Judging by the video provided, the student’s phone wasn’t even in its camera mode, which adds more uncertainty to Perdue’ claim.
The Young Democratic Socialists of America’s Georgia Tech chapter, or YDSA for short, has gone on record to say that “Perdue would have been within his legal rights to simply walk away or decline the question. But instead, he forcibly, suddenly, and violently took their phone without justification or provocation.” This leans more towards the student’s side of the argument as Perdue has literally no reason whatsoever to steal a phone aside from not wanting to disclose his or anyone else’s political information at the time being.
Georgia Tech YDSA had been reached out to by the Law and Crime Live Trial Network for their comments as well. They revealed that they were considering filing criminal charges against Perdue for the incident, stating that “it is [their] belief and the belief of the student, that Perdue committed the Georgia crimes of Theft by taking and Robbery.” The democratic socialist group also touched upon the apparent incongruity of Perdue campaigning on the Georgia Tech campus itself, given that while he was within his legal rights to decline to answer the question or walk away in general, but stealing the student’s phone without “justification or provocation” was entirely uncalled for.
The publication attempted to reach out to Senator Perdue’s office for further comments on the incident, but no response was available nor forthcoming at the time of publication.
After the incident, Perdue’s office has stood firmly behind him. An office aide of his even went on to say “He went to take a selfie, then realized he didn’t want the picture so he gave the phone back.” His spokesperson neglected to apologize for the incident as well.
Whether the incident was politically charged or not, Perdue has certainly made a name for himself in all the wrong ways. Instead of apologizing, he has let his office attempt to defend him. Slowly but surely, the lawsuit against him is formulating and only time will tell if it ends well for his campaign in the long run.
Braylin Horton is a junior at Morehouse College. He is a CTEMs (Cinema, Television, Emerging Media Studies) major with a minor in Journalism. He strives to become a screenwriter.
