Perry Greene, the ex-husband of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has reached a settlement with three Muslim women whom he verbally harassed in March.
On Monday, April 14, local news outlets in Georgia reported that Greene paid $75,000 to the group of college students, which they said would be donated to their local mosque.
The incident that led to a settlement occurred on March 31, when the women were praying in a mall parking structure in Alpharetta, Ga. In the now-viral video, Perry can be seen driving a Tesla Cybertruck and pulling up to the women.
“Where are you from? Where all y’all from?” Perry demands, before telling the women that they are worshipping a “false god.“
“Y’all wanna do all kinds of crazy s—,” he continued, before following the women with his car as they walked toward the mall.
“It did feel very long in the moment. Like, it just wouldn’t stop,” said one of the women — whose full names have not been made public — while speaking to Atlanta News First. “Attack after attack, insult after insult. All of it was just out of pure hate and his disgust of us, which I don’t understand.”
Four days later, Greene reached out to the women’s lawyers and said he wished to apologize. They met with him at their place of worship, the Masjid Jafar and Al-Rahmah Community Center in Johns Creek, where Greene attended a service and issued a public apology.
“I came today just to meet with the young ladies that I was mean to and treated disrespectfully about their religion and about what they were doing,” Perry said in his statement, per Channel 2 Action News. “I just wanted them to know that I humbly apologized to them because no one should be treated that way, and that’s not the right way for us to treat anybody.”
While Alpharetta police condemned the incident, after reviewing the footage, they determined that Greene did not technically commit a crime and thus will not face any charges.
“The comments made in the video circulating on the internet are disgusting and do not reflect the diversity and understanding that Alpharetta values,” police said in a statement to Channel 2.
“However, in our community all speech is protected — even the speech we may not agree with,” the statement continued. “After thoroughly watching the video, we have determined no crime was committed. And, while we do not condone activity like this, absent any new information coming forward our investigation is closed, and no criminal charges will be made.”
The women — all of whom were born and raised in Georgia — note that while they understand the police department’s decision, the experience has only strengthened their resolve to practice their faith freely and publicly, per KBTX 3.
“This is our identity, this is our faith. No matter what anybody says to us, no matter what bigot wants to tell us that we have a false God, we will be firm on our feet, regardless of what anybody has said about us,” one of the women told the outlet.
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Greene filed for divorce from his congresswoman ex-wife in 2022 after 27 years of marriage, citing an “irretrievably broken” relationship.
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