Activists Filing Ethics Complaint Against Marjorie Taylor Greene for Allegedly Kicking Teen

Getty Images

Activist group Voters of Tomorrow announced on Monday that it is filing a formal complaint against Marjorie Taylor Greene with the Office of Congressional Ethics after footage captured the congresswoman allegedly kicking one of their staffers and directing xenophobic remarks at their executive director.

The complaint is expected to accuse Greene of violating Rule XXIII, Clause 1 of the Rules of the House Code of Conduct, which requires a member to “behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.”

Rep. Greene “must be held accountable for her physical and verbal attacks on our staff,” wrote Voters of Tomorrow spokesperson Jack Lobel wrote in a statement. “We hope this sends a strong message to the Congresswoman and other far-right politicians: we will fight back against their continued strikes against our generation.”

“This isn’t just about the Marjorie Taylor Greene kick, although that was very alarming to us,” Lobel added to Rolling Stone on Monday. “this is about something larger, which is accountability for leaders in government, and that accountability coming from our generation.”

Lobel says the organization has not been in contract with the Greene’s office since the incident and is focusing on boosting turnout among young people as much as possible in the November midterms. Greene’s office did not immediately return a request for comment from Rolling Stone.

Greene appeared to kick an activist during a confrontation outside the Capitol in September. The incident was documented in a video Greene posted to her Twitter feed. The video shows Greene as she is followed and questioned by members the group. Around the 1:15 mark, Greene appears to step on or kick Marianna Pecora, the group’s 18-year-old deputy communications director who was walking in front of Greene.

“Did she literally just tweet out the video of her kicking me?” Pecora wrote on Twitter along with Greene’s video. Pecora shared a different angle on her own feed.

“I’m so sorry but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect members of Congress to not kick an 18 year old citizen,” Pecora added.

Voters of Tomorrow wrote in a statement to reporters that Greene “physically and verbally attacked members of our team,” and that “in addition to yelling at our Executive Director, a Mexican immigrant, to ‘go to another country,’ she physically assaulted another young staffer.”

Santiago Mayer, executive director of the group, wrote on Twitter that Voters of Tomorrow is consulting with their legal team and “keeping our options open.” 

Greene attacked Mayer on Twitter, calling him a “paid political activist” and telling him to “go back” to Mexico if he didn’t like the gun laws in the United States. 

Nick Dyer, Greene’s communications director who was with her when the incident took place, disputed how Greene’s actions have been characterized when reached by The Washington Post. When reached for comment by Rolling Stone, Dyer wrote, “This is all ridiculous and you should refrain from repeating lies.”

Pecora told the Post that Greene’s behavior was an outlier in what was otherwise a productive day at the Capitol. “We’ve been sitting in meetings all week with both Democrats and Republicans,” she said. “Nobody has been anything but respectful. Everybody has been just so incredibly attentive, and taken us seriously and had, like, really productive conversations with us. Except for Marjorie Taylor Greene.”