Rep. David Clark, R-Buford, was removed from the Georgia House chamber Tuesday after he refused to be tested for COVID-19.
Atlanta media outlets are reporting Clark refused to leave the chamber after being asked to by House Speaker David Ralston and was then escorted out by a state trooper.
Clark had reportedly not been following a requirement that House members be tested for COVID-19 twice a week. According to a report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ralston's Director of Communication Kaleb McMichen said Clark has not been tested since the start of the session three weeks ago.
McMichen told the AJC Clark is the only Georgia lawmaker to refuse to be tested at all throughout the duration of the legislative session. On top of this, McMichen said the speaker's office had contacted Clark multiple times to get tested, but he refused.
Ralston reportedly announced that a member of the General Assembly had deliberately failed to be tested, and then asked the member to leave the chamber.
When the member did not leave the chamber, Ralston called for a trooper to escort them out, at which time the trooper approached Clark and led him out.
