Ex-Georgia candidate makes Pants on Fire claim about son of US Rep. Lucy McBath, Jordan Davis

U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., became a gun control advocate after her teenage son was murdered.

On Jan. 20, the day 22,000 people rallied for gun rights in Richmond, Va., a Republican from her home state attacked her policies in a Facebook post.

The post, repeated on Twitter, was made by Paul Maner, who ran in 2016 for the Republican nomination for a Georgia state Senate seat. 

The post includes a video related to the Richmond rally and says: 

"THIS is what the lunatics like Lucy McBath for Congress Rep. Lucy McBath are all about.

"#TakeBack6th

"If her son hadn't been involved with a drug deal gone bad, her son might still be alive today. Her solution, to disarm everyone who is a law abiding citizen."

The claim about her son is wrong. 

McBath called it "pathetic" and used Maner’s Twitter post to try to raise donations for her campaign. Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, called the attack vile and hateful, and urged her Twitter followers to support McBath.

We messaged Maner on Facebook, asking for information to back his claim, but did not get a response.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution describes him as a Georgia Republican activist.

Featured Fact-check

TikTok posts

stated on December 9, 2024 in social media posts

Video shows CEO homicide suspect Luigi Mangione posted YouTube videos teasing his plans

The facts of McBath’s son’s death at the hands of Michael Dunn are clear and have been reported many times by local and national news media. It became known as the "loud music" case. Drugs were not involved.

From a CBS News story on Dunn’s sentencing in October 2014:

Dunn encountered four black teens — including McBath’s son, Jordan Davis, 17  — on the evening of Nov. 23, 2012, when Dunn and his girlfriend pulled up next to their SUV in the parking lot of a convenience store in Jacksonville, Fla. 

Dunn asked the teens to turn down the music in their car. Davis took issue with his request. The two exchanged heated words as Davis sat in the back seat of the SUV.

Dunn argued that he thought he saw the barrel of a gun inside the car and was in fear for his life when he shot up the SUV. The prosecution said that the threat Dunn, a white man, perceived from the group of black teens was "only in his imagination." The teens were unarmed.

Dunn fired 10 shots in three short bursts, striking Davis three times. 

At the sentencing, Dunn then 47, made a short statement addressed to Davis' family: "I truly regret what happened... if I could roll back time and do things differently I would. Still, I'm mortified I took a life."

We looked through multiple news stories about the case. None tied the shooting to a potential drug deal.

Dunn was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Maner said Davis, the son of a member of Congress, was killed in "a drug deal gone bad."

Davis was among four black teens in a car who got in a dispute with a middle-aged white man who wanted them to turn down their music. The man shot and killed Davis, was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life without parole.

The claim is not only false but ridiculous — Pants on Fire.