Who is Kenneth Leland Morgan? Athens, Georgia man in Nazi uniform allegedly assaulted woman outside Cutter's Pub
A widely circulated video showed an altercation between a woman and a man dressed in Nazi uniform, who has been identified as Kenneth Leland Morgan.
A video showing an altercation between a woman and a man dressed in a Nazi uniform has been widely circulated online. The man has been identified as Kenneth Leland Morgan. The incident on Thursday night, days before Halloween, reportedly took place in downtown Athens, Georgia.
The video showed a man wearing what looked like a Nazi uniform, complete with a red armband bearing a swastika. He appeared to be pushed out of a bar by a woman, before being confronted by some others. While the confrontation was going on, one person appeared to reach for his armband, at which point he hit the woman across her face, the clip shows.
Who is Kenneth Leland Morgan?
Kenneth Leland Morgan, the man in the Nazi uniform, is 32 years old. As per Athens-Clarke County police records, he was born in 1992 and arrested around 2:56 am on October 24.
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Morgan faces charges of aggravated assault and simple battery, and listed bond if $1500, as per The Red & Black, the University of Georgia's student newspaper. Witnesses told the publication that the assault took place after the man was seen outside the bar in the uniform.
The woman injured in the altercation was identified as Grace Lang by the newspaper. Lang spoke to The Red & Black detailing how the incident went down. According to her, a Jewish friend of hers saw the armband and got into a ‘yelling match’ with him. It was the man and ‘two women smaller than him’, Lang recounted. This prompted her to put her body in between and try and tear the armband off, she claimed, saying it was the identifying factor of the costume.
She said he'd hit her with a ‘large glass pitcher’.
“He is grinning ear to ear the entire time, including while assaulting me. He continued to try and pull and hit me but was pulled off by my friends. I was immediately disoriented and don’t remember him continuing to assault me,” she told the publication, while adding that the bar they were at didn't have glass pitchers, so she didn't know where the man brought it from.
Reactions to the incident
The Young Democrats of UGA and ACC condemned the incident in a statement on Instagram. “The Young Democrats of UGA and ACC are greatly disturbed to learn that early Friday morning, 32-year-old Kenneth Leland (Lee) Morgan decided to spew antisemitic hate and physically assault women in full Nazi uniform downtown. Nazis and antisemites like Lee have no place in our community, and it is up to all of us to call out this filth when it appears. We hope that Lee’s felony aggravated assault charge dissuades other Nazis from showing their faces in our city,” they said.
The owner of the bar – Cutter's Pub – outside which the altercation took place, clarified that the man had not been allowed to enter. In a statement to the student newspaper, he clarified that the man was denied entry and instructed to leave. “At Cutter’s Pub, our top priority is customer safety and we will continue to do everything we can to make everyone feel safe and welcomed. We pride ourselves on being a diverse crowd and serving everyone who walks through the door with respect,” the owner said.
Meanwhile, some online expressed support for the man. “You know what, I stand with the brave man in Athens who decided to wear a Nazi costume. Takes some balls,” a person wrote. Another opined “Frankly, that woman needs to be arrested for assault. And probably deported. She doesn’t understand ‘freedom of speech’ in any way. She’s the problem here, not the guy in the Nazi uniform… Which BTW looks very good on him!”
