Posted on 03/31/2006 8:54:36 AM PST by MikeA
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Capitol Hill police plan to issue an arrest warrant today for Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.).
The warrant is related to the incident Wednesday when McKinney allegedly slapped a Capitol Hill police officer.
Charges could range from assault on a police officer, which is a felony carrying a possible five year prison term, to simple assault, which is a misdeamenor.
McKinney has canceled a news conference that she had scheduled for this morning to discuss the incident.
McKinney issued a statement yesterday saying she "deeply regrets" the confrontation with the police officer.
The six-term congresswoman apparently struck a Capitol Police officer when he tried to stop her from entering a House office building without going through a metal detector. Members of Congress wear identifying lapel pins and routinely are waved into buildings without undergoing security checks. The officer apparently did not recognize McKinney, she said in a statement.
Asked on-camera Thursday by Channel 2 Action News whether she intended to apologize, McKinney refused to comment.
"I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, and I appreciate the work that they do. I have demonstrated my support for them in the past and I continue to support them now," she said in the statement on her Web site.
Democrats and Republicans, meanwhile, engaged in a rhetorical scuffle over the incident.
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday labeled it "a mistake, an unfortunate lack of recognition of a member of Congress." She added that the police officer was not at fault.
"I would not make a big deal of this," said Pelosi, D-Calif.
Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., responded: "How many officers would have to be punched before it becomes a big deal?"
The dustup is the latest in a series of tangles for the roughly 1,200-officer Capitol Police department.
The department faces a difficult task -- protecting 535 members of Congress and the vast Capitol complex in an atmosphere thick with politics and privilege.
The safety of its members became a sensitive issue after a gunman in 1998 killed two officers outside the office of then-Republican Whip Tom DeLay of Texas.
More recently, police obeyed an order by an angry House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., to remove Democrats from a hearing room. Thomas later tearfully apologized on the House floor.
This year, during President Bush's State of the Union address, police drew criticism for first kicking antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan out of the House gallery, and then for evicting the wife of Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla.
Merle Black, a professor of politics at Emory University, says that while the scuffle was rare for an elected politician, it's unlikely to cost McKinney more than a few votes. Black says McKinney is in damage control -- cutting her losses by not insisting on right or wrong.
I'm willing to bet she won't, or it will be very weak.
Rep. DeLay had brass balls, a confidence in American justice, a clear conscience, and the grace of God.
That's why he gave a big ol' Texas smile. :)
McKinney also wasn't wearing her "members" pledge pin, as I recall from previous accounts.
Didn't the articles posted here on FR yesterday say she attempted to bypass the metal detector? I worked for years in prisons and everyone, even the Superintendent and the State Commissioner were required to pass through the metal detector and show their ID before being allowed entry or exit. In fact, if the officers didn't request to see the ID's, they could be disciplined. And, at any time, any employee could have their bags searched by a uniformed supervisor.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Better late than never. She should have been arrested yesterday for assaulting a Cop. The thing is, this isn't the first time she's done something like this. She has a very nasty reputation, and apparently likes to flaunt her "authority".
if anyone of us would have hit a member of LE like that, we would already be spending our third day in jail...
The protection doesn't apply at all to criminal cases, since it excepts "treason, felony or breach of the peace" (Williamson v. U.S., 207 U.S. 425 (1908)).
Actually, she changed her hairdo. It is no longer the braided look that we are used to seeing. Instead -- to quote Neal Boortz -- her hair looks like "and explosion in a Brillo pad factory".
I hope there is a Freeper than can snap a picture of her doing the perp walk, assuming it actually happens, because the MSM will bury it, or "accidentally" put an (R) after her name when reporting in print, or not mentioning any party relationship when reporting via TV or radio.
thats part of the priveledge of being a member of congress.
they dont have to go through the detectors
I can dream can't I? :-)
You try this and see what happens!
Or have same Republican VP tell a senator IN PRIVATE CONVERSATION to "go F himself"...
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Or that she's completely unmemorable until she opens her mouth?
No, not like thought crimes. If you bash a police officer because he is trying to detain you, it's a felony. If you bash a fellow citizen because he is trying to detain you, it may not even be a crime.
I am certain that if you hit an off-duty police office in a bar because he came on to your woman, you would not be charged with assaulting a police officer. It's not WHO the person is, it is the job they are performing at the time.
Maybe that's where the confusion lies.
What goes around comes around, maybe hers has finally come around.
What's the deal with all these tearful apologies by our elected representatives? I mean, I know they're a bunch of wimps, but enough already.
Within the Congressional Black Caucus McKinney passes for "sane."
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