Columbia County authorities have arrested two alleged thieves who stole packages from people’s homes — as the pair simultaneously distributed fliers supporting the candidacies of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
Warnock and Ossoff, both Democrats, want to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.
The Augusta Chronicle identified these two alleged thieves as Santina Walker and Cesar Guerrero.
Officials with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department did not return The Georgia Star News’ request for comment Thursday.
Members of the Georgia Republican Party, in an emailed press release, said the following:
“While we’ve long known that Radical Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff’s socialist agenda includes ‘free stuff’ paid for by Georgians, we didn’t expect their team to take it quite so literally.”
The press release identified Walker and Guerrero as members of Warnock’s and Ossoff’s campaign teams — possibly based on The Chronicle’s initial reporting. Staff writers at the paper later updated the article, apparently more than once, and referred to previous versions that “mischaracterized the relationship between the suspects and the political campaigns.”
Authorities reportedly arrested Walker and Guerrero after they discovered several new packages in the trunk of Walker’s vehicle.
“The fliers in support of Democratic U.S. Senate runoff candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were not associated with the candidates’ campaigns, spokespeople for the candidates said,”…at least according to The Chronicle’s reporting.
Authorities reportedly charged Walker and Guerrero with four counts of misdemeanor theft. They also reportedly charged Guerrero with felony obstruction “for punching a deputy multiple times in the head while being taken into custody.”
As reported, U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), are on the January 5, 2021 ballot for the U.S. Senate against Ossoff and Warnock, respectively. As reported last week, The Star News, quoting The New York Times, said Biden doesn’t want civil rights leaders to discuss defunding the police until after the Georgia U.S. Senate runoffs have concluded.
This, for fear that such rhetoric will scare off Georgia voters and prevent Democrats from controlling the U.S. Senate next year.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
