Man in Nazi uniform assaulted Georgia student after he was denied entry to bar, officials say

A man donned what appeared to be a full Nazi uniform and assaulted a female University of Georgia student outside an off-campus bar, the school said Sunday.

The disturbance unfolded Thursday night as the man was confronted by patrons and kept outside Cutters Pub in downtown Athens, according to a representative for the bar and video of the incident.

“We are horrified by the actions of an individual who, while in downtown Athens wearing a Nazi uniform, assaulted a female University of Georgia student,” the school said in a statement.

“The man is not a student and is not affiliated with the University. His actions, which were caught on videotape, are appalling, and we are grateful to Athens-Clarke County police officers for swiftly apprehending and arresting him.”

The student who was hit, 23-year-old Grace Lang, identified her attacker as Kenneth Leland Morgan. Lang said she knows of Morgan through a friend of a friend and that he is known in her circles and around town.

Lang said two of her friends, one of whom is Jewish, first confronted the man.

“She was mainly just telling him he needed to leave and needed to go home,” Lang said.

Video of the encounter shows the man walking around with a beer mug and swinging it at a woman, seemingly striking her in the face as she goes down.Lang said she got hit by the beer mug after trying to grab the man’s swastika armband.

“He was just feeling very proud of himself for what he was wearing,” said Lang, who said she got four stitches for cuts to her face.

Athens-Clarke County jail records showed that Morgan was booked into custody early Friday. Morgan, born in 1992, was booked on suspicion of two misdemeanor counts of simple battery and one felony count of aggravated assault.

Jail records didn’t reflect if Morgan had hired or been appointed an attorney to speak on his behalf. He remained in custody Sunday.

The university called the costumed man’s act “heinous antisemitic behavior” and told students who witnessed it that counselors are available through the school.