Originally published October 2, 2023 6:00 pm PDT
Rep. Bowman believed pulling the Capitol’s fire alarm would “open the door.”
QUICK FACTS:
- Republicans are calling for Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) to receive similar treatment for committing a felony as the greatly-politicized January 6 defendants have faced.
- Bowman pulled a U.S. Capitol fire alarm in the Cannon Building while rushing to make the vote for the bill that would determine a government shutdown.
- Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) suggested the Ethics committee should investigate the situation surrounding Bowman’s actions.
- “I’m going to have a discussion with the Democratic leader about it, but this should not go without punishment. This is an embarrassment. You’re elected to be a member of Congress,” McCarthy told reporters. “You pulled the fire alarm hours before the government being shut down – trying to dictate the government would shut down?”
- Representative Cory Mills (R-FL) proposed Bowman’s phone be seized, explaining that a Republican congressman’s phone was taken after the January 6, 2021 Capitol event.
- Discussing the matter on “Fox and Friends,” Mills suggested Bowman “was trying to coordinate Hakeem Jeffries or leadership and his own side and they were trying to basically delay prep this, but also people like Congressman Scott Perry, get his phone taken wrongfully.”
- “We need to be able to treat this in the exact same light as what everyone else was being treated. And I think it’s only fair for us to go ahead and start investigating further,” he said.
- At least 317 Jan 6 defendants have been charged with “corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, or attempting to do so,” according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), yet Bowman has not been charged with obstructing a congressional proceeding despite blatant video evidence showing him unlawfully pulling the fire alarm.
STATEMENT FROM BOWMAN:
- Rep. Bowman asserted that he pulled the fire alarm because he was trying to open a door that was unexpectedly locked.
- “I came to a door that is usually open for votes but today would not open,” Bowman said in a statement. “I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door.”
- According to guidance sent to Democrat offices, Bowman “was not attempting to delay the vote that he intended to vote yes on, and was simply just trying to rush to the Capitol.”
- The guidance added that Republicans have used the event as a means to “minimize January 6th insurrectionists.”
- Part of the guidance’s “suggested talking points” include the statement, “It is an extreme reach on the part of MAGA Republicans to assert that Rep. Bowman indeed to harm or destruct anyone or thing.”
- The guidance said that the doors and other entryways can cause “confusion for staffers and members alike.”
- “Republicans need to instead focus their energy on the Nazi members of their party before anything else,” the guidance reads.
BACKGROUND:
- American Faith reported that Enrique Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys, was handed a 22-year prison sentence for January 6 involvement despite not being present in Washington, D.C., during the Capitol breach.
- Prosecutors drew upon private communications to argue that Tarrio influenced an “untold number of followers,” such as a document sent to Tarrio titled, “1776 Returns.”
- Tarrio said he did not open the document.
- He noted that the situation threatens free speech protections, explaining, “What they’re trying to do, what people are trying to do — and this is in general, I’m speaking in general — is manipulate how we talk to each other in the locker room.”
