Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, seen here on June 21, 2022, said he will not be deterred following a bomb scare at a campaign event on Tuesday. File Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he and his gubernatorial campaign will not be deterred following a bomb scare that preceded an election event planned for the city of Macon on Tuesday.
“When you stand on principle, when you do the right thing and when you put people ahead of politics, not everyone will like it. In fact, some people may try to intimidate you or do you harm,” the Republican said in a statement.
“So, yes, we are dealing with an active threat. And no, I will not back down.”
Raffensperger kicked off his “Standing For Georgia” six-city, one-day campaign event Tuesday as he seeks the Republican Party’s nomination to be its candidate in November’s gubernatorial election. The Republican primary is scheduled for May 19.
His second stop was scheduled for 10 a.m. local time in Macon at HighNote Aviation, an aviation services provider located within Middle Georgia Regional Airport.
But the event was delayed.
The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it was investigating an incident at the airport, stating emergency dispatchers were notified at 8:21 a.m. EDT Tuesday, without specifying what exactly the report concerned.
UPI has contacted the sheriff’s office for clarification.
The report prompted the airport to be evacuated and swept by patrol deputies and a bomb canine unit, which detected “a suspicious object” inside a vending machine within a secure area of the aviation hub, it said, adding that the object was secured for examination.
“After the thorough sweep of the airport, and further investigation, no hazardous devices were detected,” it said.
The airport was reopened following its investigation.
The incident at the airport comes as The New York Times reported that a day prior to the six-city tour, Raffensperger received a four-page, handwritten manifesto that his campaign said was deemed to be a “credible threat on his life.”
It was unclear if the document and the incident at the airport were connected.
UPI has contacted Raffensperger’s campaign and his secretary of state’s office for comment.
The incident prompted Raffensperger to hold the event on the tarmac of the airport.
“We’re not going to be deterred,” he told reporters during a press event held later Tuesday. “If we got to change it a little bit, we’re still moving forward. We are focused on what we’re going to do for the people of Georgia.”
Raffensperger has been a target of far-right criticism and repeated threats since he refused U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that he “find” enough votes to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
The phone call was later cited in Trump’s second impeachment trial.
Early voting is underway in the Georgia primaries, with more than 607,000 ballots already cast, according to state data.
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President Donald Trump gives remarks during a law enforcement leaders dinner, celebrating the start of National Police Week, in the Rose Garden at the White House on Monday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
