WATCH: Surveillance footage from Georgia lawmaker Publix confrontation released

The argument began after Sparkes became upset that Thomas had too many items in the express checkout line at a Publix in Mableton, Georgia. The incident went viral on social media. Thomas posted a tearful video to Facebook on Friday, alleging that Sparkes called her a “lazy son of a bitch” and told her and her 9-year-old daughter “to go back where you came from.”

“This white man comes up to me and says, ‘You lazy son of a bitch. … You need to go back where you came from,'” she said. “I said, ‘Sir, you don’t even know me. I’m not lazy. I’m nine months pregnant.”

Sparkes, who says he is a Democrat of Cuban descent, denied that he told the lawmaker to “go back,” though he did admit the next day that he called her a bitch. Sparkes told local outlet WSB-TV that Thomas was lying.

“That’s all I said after that, and I walked out of Publix,” he said. “Her words stating on [Facebook] in her video, stating I told her she needs to go back where she came from are untrue.”

Sparkes also said that Thomas made the story up for her own political gain, especially in light of the president’s recent comments urging a group of liberal congresswomen to “go back” to their home countries.

“Like I said earlier, I’m a Democrat,” Sparkes said. “I will vote Democrat the rest of my life, OK? So to call me what she wants to believe for her political purposes that make it black, white, brown or whatever, that is so untrue.”

In an interview later that day, Thomas appeared to walk back her claims that Sparkes told her to “go back.”

“I don’t know if he said ‘go back,’ or those types of words,” Thomas said. “I don’t know if he said ‘go back to your country’ or ‘go back to where you came from,’ but he was making those types of references is what I remember.”

When asked to clarify that she actually didn’t remember what was said, Thomas replied, “No, no, definitely not. But I know it was ‘go back’ because I know I told him to ‘go back.'”

Thomas then flip-flopped again the day after that, saying in a Monday press conference with her attorney that she was “not backtracking” on her weekend claims of racism.

“He said, ‘Go back where you came from!’ … and after that, he kept harassing me.” Thomas said. “I was embarrassed, and I was scared for my life.”

News broke Wednesday that revealed a Publix employee, who was there the day of the confrontation, told police that it was actually Thomas who was the one calling for Sparkes to “go back,” flipping the narrative on its head. The customer service manager told police that he heard Thomas “continuously tell Eric Sparkes to ‘Go back where you came from!’”

The witness added that after Sparkes confronted her, “Thomas kept ‘running her mouth’ as she approached him.” Sparkes then told Thomas she was “ignorant.” Another employee, Derrick Tompkins, said he heard Sparkes use profanity, but didn’t hear him tell her to “go back” to where she came from.

“I’m not going to say that wasn’t said, but I don’t remember hearing it,” Tompkins told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m going to leave it at that.”

Thomas and her attorney said there needed to be further investigation into the incident, but police shot down the notion that charges would be pressed as a result of the now viral confrontation.

“After a thorough investigation, both parties have been advised there will be no charges made by the Cobb County Police Department,” Sgt. Wayne Delk said.

For its part, a spokeswoman for the Southern supermarket chain said that the company wanted to foster a “safe and welcoming” environment for customers.

“At Publix we are committed to creating a safe and welcoming shopping experience for all our customers. We are cooperating with local law enforcement as they look into the matter,” Publix spokeswoman Brenda Reid told the Washington Examiner.