Police, Cracker Barrel Slam 'Deportation Bus' Stunt

DECATUR, GA — When the local police and Cracker Barrel are both tossing cold water on your controversial political stunt, it's safe to say it probably didn't work out quite as well as you'd hoped.

That was the case Wednesday for the "Deportation Bus," which was supposed to be a three-town tour of Georgia's "sanctuary cities" by state Sen. Michael Williams — a longshot candidate for governor in Tuesday's Republican primary.

One of those stops, the one in Athens, was canceled after the Williams campaign claimed in a news release that violent protesters prevented the bus — emblazoned with slogans like "Fill This Bus With Illegals: Vote Michael Williams" and "Follow Me To Mexico — from leaving Decatur.

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That certainly would have been a convenient narrative for the campaign of Williams, who was co-chairman of the Trump campaign in Georgia and has hewed closely to the president's anti-illegal immigration rhetoric. The problem? DeKalb County Police say it's not true.

Police say they received an anonymous phone call complaining of violence at the Decatur stop. When they arrived, they found none.

"Upon a police supervisor and officers arrival at the scene, they did not observe any violence or criminal activity," police said in a written statement. "The DeKalb County Police Department reached out to Senator Williams' campaign after learning of the media release."

The department said it has not received a response from Williams — who has touted himself as a law-and-order candidate while drawing about 3 percent of support in polls of likely Republican voters.

What did happen before Wednesday's stop was that Cracker Barrel, which is where Williams planned to rally in Athens, came out against the bus tour.

"At Cracker Barrel, we work hard to foster a culture that is welcoming and inclusive for our guests and employees, founded in mutual respect and equal treatment of all people," the home-cooking chain said in a news release.

"Cracker Barrel is not a political organization and has no party or political affiliation. Our focus is on delivering our mission of 'Pleasing People' and serving everyone who walks through our doors with genuine hospitality, not politics."

The statement made clear that Cracker Barrel is not sponsoring the tour and that Williams would not be allowed to host an event on the company's property.

"We take pride in showing our communities and our country that the hospitality we practice is indeed welcoming and inclusive to all."

Those two hits were just the tip of the iceberg during what ended up being a rocky day politically for Williams, who trails frontrunner Casey Cagle, Georgia's lieutenant governor, and candidates like Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp and state Sen. Hunter Hill.

While those candidates have largely tried to ignore Williams, Georgia's two Democratic candidates for governor — state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams and state Rep. Stacey Evans — offered full-throated rebukes of the stunt and called on Williams' Republican opponents to do the same.

Tensions also boiled over during the tour itself. Video surfaced Wednesday of Seth Weathers, Williams' chief campaign spokesman, cursing and interrupting an interview with Williams by a local television reporter.

WXIA-TV's Doug Richards posted video in which he asks Williams if there is a racial component to his anti-immigration views.

"Oh, for ----'s sake. Did you say color?" Weathers can be heard saying off-camera in the middle of the interview.

After telling Richards to "carry on," Weathers interrupts again.

"How edited is this interview going to be?" he says. "I'm just curious because you generally ---- them all up with your own bias ... your smug little comments and stuff."

Richards eventually responds, sarcastically, saying his news package would be edited "with the type of bias you've come to love and respect." (See the video below.)

Protesters at the Decatur event also took to social media Tuesday saying that Weathers had yanked protest signs from the hands of demonstrators in an apparent effort to stir up a confrontation. In the news release, Weathers describes the violence that police say didn't exist as "protesters ... shoving Williams campaign staff, spitting in supporters faces, attempting to deface the bus and other aggressive behavior."

The release claimed that protesters delayed the bus for so long that it was impossible to make the 67-mile trip from Decatur to Athens. It did not mention the fact that Cracker Barrel had said Williams was not welcome.

Photo courtesy Williams for Governor.