DAWSONVILLE – Prosecutors in the trial of Nydia Tisdale on Wednesday painted the citizen-journalist as dismissive of instructions to stop filming a 2014 Republican rally at Burt’s Pumpkin Farm and said she threw a “tantrum” when physically removed by a police officer.

The organizer of the rally asked Tisdale “to stop recording on at least three occasions,” Assistant District Attorney Conley Greer said in his opening statement.

Lead defense attorney Bruce Harvey countered that Tisdale was recording a public event and had already asked permission to film. When she was grabbed by a Dawson County Sheriff’s Deputy, who did not identify himself, Tisdale had no idea what was happening.

Tisdale is charged with felony obstruction of an officer and two misdemeanor counts, including criminal trespassing. If convicted, she could be sentenced to years in prison. The trial is expected to last at least through the end of the week and could include tesimony from state poltical heavyweights such as Gov. Nathan Deal and former Attorney General Sam Olens.

-Please return for updates on this story

About the Author

Keep Reading

A Korean Air plane takes off from Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. The plane is chartered to bring back Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia. (Yonhap via AP)

Credit: AP

Featured

Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

Credit: NYT