Ninth district congressional candidate jailed for refusing to surrender guns

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - A Georgia congressional candidate in next month’s runoff will spend this weekend in the Gwinnett County jail, serving a four-day contempt of court order for not turning over her guns to authorities.

Brooke Siskin finished first in the Democratic primary for the Ninth Congressional District with 41 percent of the vote. She faces Army veteran Devin Pandy in August to see who will represent the Democratic Party in the race to fill Rep. Doug Collins’ open seat.

Brooke Siskin was booked into the Gwinnett County jail Thursday for "willful contempt of court."

Her legal troubles stem from an earlier divorce and a bizarre March, 2020 encounter at a Peachtree Corners bank.

According to a Gwinnett County police report, employees at a BB&T bank branch called 911 because Siskin was creating a scene. She wanted to withdraw a certain amount of money from an account she had just opened and she was unhappy to learn she had to wait five days.

The police report said Siskin started to “scream and yell,” and refused to leave the bank.

When police took her into custody for disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, they found a fully-loaded .380 handgun and additional ammunition in the glove compartment of her car. 

Here’s why that’s a problem. A judge had ordered Siskin to surrender all firearms in an earlier divorce decree.

Brooke Siskin finished first in the May Democratic primary with 41% of the vote.

According to a 2010 police report, Siskin threatened her husband with a knife saying “You killed my life, now I’ll kill you.” He said she also hit him in the face “4 or 5 times.”

The couple divorced in 2012.

When Siskin refused to turn over a second handgun on Thursday, a Glock .22 plus ammunition, Gwinnett County Superior Court judge Deborah Fluker ordered Siskin taken into custody for “willful contempt of court.”

She’s due back before the judge Monday morning.

In a May debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club and aired on Georgia Public Television, Siskin touched on guns and claimed to be a victim herself.

“As well as protecting myself, with others I believe in that,” she said. “I’m also a victim of domestic violence. And having those opportunities is what most of the women and men in this district are facing.”

Attorney Laura Mayfield had no comment on her client’s arrest.