Georgia Tech student sues senator after phone incident

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A lawsuit has now been filed against a Georgia senator who allegedly took a college student's cell phone at a campaign event.

Attorneys for 20-year-old Georgia Tech student Nathan Knauf announced the filing at a news conference Monday.

"At a time when we want more involvement from young people in the political process, this kind of behavior on the part of a U.S. senator sends the wrong message," said attorney and State Rep. David Dreyer, who is representing Knauf. 

MORE: Georgia's U.S. Senator accused of snatching student's phone

The suit stems from an Oct. 13 campaign event at Georgia Tech for republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp.  

Knauf said he wanted to ask Sen. David Perdue how he could support Kemp in light of recent allegations of voter suppression under his leadership as Secretary of State. According to Knauf, Perdue took his phone away when he noticed the student was recording.  

"What Sen. Perdue did was wrong," said Knauf.  "He should not have taken my phone and he should have been willing to answer my question." 

A spokeswoman for Perdue called the lawsuit "outrageous and completely frivolous."

"It’s now abundantly clear that this is being politically orchestrated by Georgia Democrats," the Senator's office said in a statement to FOX 5. "The senator was simply asked to take a picture and went to take a selfie as he often does with hundreds of people. The senator was also not ignoring their questions, in fact, he had just finished answering several students’ questions about climate change. Sadly, but not surprisingly, this is another attempt by liberal activists to distort the facts and distract the people of Georgia just weeks before an election.”

Knauf and his attorneys deny that he ever asked the senator to pose for a photo with him.

"There is nothing in the video [...] that demonstrates that the senator was in any way trying or attempting to take a selfie with Nate," said attorney Michael Sterling. 

The lawsuit seeks court and attorneys fees as well as damages, but Knauf said he would be happy with an apology.

"We are here simply to demand that he admit wrongdoing, that he issue a public apology and that he finally answer my simple question," he said.