This is the shocking on-camera, parking lot confrontation between Georgia Rep. Erica Thomas and the white man she claims told her 'go back to where you came from' - as he denied the allegation but admitted he branded her a 'lazy b***h'.
Rep. Thomas of Austell, Georgia, was waiting to be interviewed about the ordeal on Saturday outside the Publix store in Mableton - where the incident occurred the previous day.
Suddenly she spotted the man, Eric Sparkes, who had hurled the abuse at her at the supermarket checkout line, from across the lot. So she decided to confront him.
Georgia state representative Erica Thomas (left) and Eric Sparkes (right), the man she claimed called her a 'lazy b***h' and told her to 'go back where you came from' verbally spared on camera Saturday outside a supermarket where the incident occurred Friday
'If you know how you made me feel yesterday,' Thomas started to say to Sparkes as the WSB-TV's cameras rolled.
'Back off,' Sparkes hit back.
As the confrontation continued, Sparkes accused Thomas, who is due to give birth in three weeks, of lying.
She said, 'I'm a liar about what?'
'Everything that happened,' Sparkes said replied.
'Do you feel bad?' Thomas asked, referring to what she had claimed he said the previous day in her Facebook video.
'Me telling you to "Go back where you came from." Did I say that?' Sparkes interrupted. 'Is it on video?' Sparkes challenged her.
'What did you say to me then,' she said.
It was at this point that Sparkes admitted that 'I called you a lazy (expletive),' quickly adding that 'That's the worst thing I said.'
Thomas is pictured here with her daughter who was standing in line with her mother when Sparkes verbally assaulted her
Thomas said she did not tell Sparkes that she was a lawmaker. Instead, she told him that she wasn't being lazy, she was nine months pregnant
Thomas took to Facebook to post a tearful video revealing what happened during the supermarket checkout line exchange, at one point calling her daughter into the room to tell viewers how she felt about hearing what Sparkes said
'Yeah, that makes you look better to say that,' Thomas scoffed.
The confrontation occurred the day after Thomas took to Facebook to post a tearful video about the ordeal.
In it she described how she and her nine-year-old daughter had just returned from the supermarket, where Sparkes had cursed at her, calling her a 'lazy son of a b***h' and allegedly telling her 'You need to go back where you came from.'
The alleged verbal onslaught began, Thomas said, because the man was upset that she had 15 items while checking out in the 10 items of less line.
Thomas said that she had used the express checkout line, despite having more than the stated items, because she is nine months pregnant and has trouble standing for long.
She said that she didn't tell the man that she is a state representative, but instead said, 'Sir, you don't even know me. I'm not lazy. I'm nine months pregnant.'
Thomas said that Publix employees eventually told the man to leave the store and that she was scared to leave the store in case he came at her with a gun in the parking lot.
The video went viral and the hashtag #IStandwithErica trended on Twitter.
The initial incident occurred at this Publix in Mableton, Georgia, on Friday, while Thomas and Sparkes' confrontation took place in the parking lot Saturday
Thomas told the news station that the supermarket does have surveillance video, although it doesn't have sound, however she was informed that there were several witnesses that could corroborate her story.
She also said that he had 'degraded and berated' her.
'My child is just sitting there. 'Mama, why would he call you that?' I can't even explain to her why he has so much hate in his heart,' Thomas said.
Sparkes said he's a Democrat and was being unjustly attacked for political purposes.
'This woman, Ms. Thomas, is playing the victim for political purposes because she is a state legislator,' Sparkes said. 'I'm a Democrat and will vote Democrat for the rest of my life, so call me whatever you want to believe. For her political purposes, make it black, white, brown, whatever. It is untrue.'
The incident came days after President Donald Trump tweeted that four congresswomen of color, including U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, should go back to the 'broken and crime infested' countries they came from.
In her video, Thomas alluded to those attacks and accused the president of inciting hate.
Sparkes denied making any racially-charged comments and told WSB-TV that he's Cuban, not a racist and not a Trump supporter.
In a statement, Publix has said the company is 'cooperating with local law enforcement as they look into the matter.'
During the television interview, she said Sparkes 'needs to be held accountable, because people can't just go out in public areas and berate pregnant women,' whether it's 'because I'm pregnant, whether it's because I'm black.'
She also said that her husband wasn't with her because he is on active duty, serving overseas.
She told The Associated Press she notified police and will seek store video.
link
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/white-man-admits-he-called-black-georgia-state-representative-erica-thomas-a-lazy-bh/
News Photo White man admits he called black Georgia State Representative Erica Thomas a 'lazy b***h'
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