Below is my column in Fox.com on the controversy involving Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and his pulling the fire alarm during the voting on the stopgap budget measure.
Here is the column:
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., has problems opening doors. That is the defense being put forward by supporters after Bowman was videotaped pulling a fire alarm in the middle of the heated budget negotiations and then running away.
Bowman now claims that he was faced with a closed door clearly marked with signs saying that the doors were only to be use in cases of emergency and alarms would sound. The New York Democrat was in front of the door without staffers and allegedly confused by the signs on it… So, he pulled a clearly marked fire alarm because he thought that is how you open a door.
Republicans have suggested an alternative explanation: Bowman was attempting to disrupt the budget vote as Democrats were demanding more time after Republicans put forward another stopgap measure.
Now some commentators, conservatives, voters, and members of Congress are calling for Bowman to be expelled.
I have previously called Bowman the perfect personification of our dysfunctional political times. He was shown on videotape screaming about gun control in the Capitol as his colleagues left the floor following a vote. Various Democratic members, including former House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., tried to calm Bowman. However, when Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., asked Bowman to stop yelling, Bowman shouted back: “I was screaming before you interrupted me.” I previously noted that it could go down as the perfect epitaph for our age of rage.
However, this is more than a good rave next to the House floor. It could be a crime. If it were intended to disrupt the congressional proceedings, it could be treated as a felony.
In D.C., this would more likely constitute a criminal misdemeanor. It would also obviously be treated as sanctionable conduct under the House rules.
Bowman is not the only member looking at demands for expulsion. Various Republicans want to see Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla, expelled over long-standing ethical complaints stemming from his scandal involving alleged drug abuse and bribery.
There are also the long-standing calls for the expulsion of Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., over his own scandal involving pending criminal charges.
Some have noted that the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in the Bronx, where Bowman was principal, reserved the right to expel students who pulled fire alarms. However, students are not elected to middle school to carry out constitutional functions as representatives of others.
Democrat Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D., represents New York’s 16th District in the United States House of Representatives.
Expulsion remains a rare remedy in Congress. Despite hundreds of years of often deep and angry political divisions, only 20 members have been expelled and only 5 were expelled from the House. Think of that for a moment. Five House members in the prior roughly 250 years. We now have 3 in one year being considered.
The last time three members were up for expulsion, it was due to their support for the South in the Civil War.
The House has had members that make the pirates of Penzance look like teetotalers. Past members have included some who were embodiments of the greedy and the grotesque.
The lack of expulsions historically has reflected an understanding that the use of this power can lead to a type of expulsion compulsion. Particularly in the House where members stand for office every two years, the voters are more than capable of determining whether scandals should disqualify a member from serving further. Rep. Gaetz was reelected despite the allegations against him, and he has not been charged with a crime.
The evidence and the need for an expulsion should be overwhelming for the choice of voters to be negated by the body of the whole. In Bowman’s case, the criminal act is captured on videotape, but it is also likely a misdemeanor. Given the relatively minor offense, this would seem a matter better addressed through a House censure and other in-house consequences.
Expulsion needs to remain the nuclear option when all other avenues are unavailable. The best avenue remains the voters.
In the meantime, if doors continue to perplex Rep. Bowman, the residents of the New York 16th can decide whether to show him the exit in the next election.
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22–1319. False alarms and false reports; hoax weapons.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to willfully or knowingly give a false alarm of fire within the District of Columbia, and any person or persons violating the provisions of this subsection shall, upon conviction, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or by imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Prosecutions for violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be on information filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
(a-1) It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to willfully or knowingly use, or allow the use of, the 911 call system to make a false or fictitious report or complaint which initiates a response by District of Columbia emergency personnel or officials when, at the time of the call or transmission, the person knows the report or complaint is false. Any person or persons violating the provisions of this subsection shall, upon conviction, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or by imprisonment for not more than 6 months. Prosecutions for violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be on information filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.
Decorum in our hallowed halls of the Legislative branch is continually being violated. Senator Bowman is just a reflection of what is wrong in DC. He should walk
the streets of DC and experience the lawlessness that is now rampant in the Capitol of our country and is not being addressed by the Biden administration.
We DO NOT have leadership that is addressing that issue that abounds in DC and in our major cities around the country and it started in the Obama administration and endorsed by Hillary Clinton who used the Ferguson violence for political gain. Senator Bowman should be censured. He should visit the J6 patriots who carried no weapons that have been confined to solitary confinement when no cash bail laws are putting criminals back on the street!
JT posts a smug photo of Rep. Bowman. A face you just want to punch.
But to do it legally, Bowman should be charged with a felony swatting crime. $250,000 fine and 20 years in prison!
INSURRECTION
Rep. Bowman is a 47-year-old former school principal, not some college kid on spring break. His little “stunt” to disrupt House proceedings should be punished. Capitol Police should charge Rep. Bowman with a criminal misdemeanor and I’m sure that he will get a slap on the wrist with either probation or community service. I agree that expulsion isn’t warranted in this case Jonathan, however some degree of accountability is. That said, does anyone really think that the Capitol Police do anything to a Democrat ?
22–1319 is a DC law and doesn’t apply to buildings in the Capitol Complex, which are a federal enclave. Strange that Turley makes this mistake two days in a row.
Prove what?
That the Capitol Complex is a federal enclave? LOL if you don’t understand that.
That DC law doesn’t apply to the Capitol Complex? Sure: https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1630-protection-government-property-real-property-18-usc-7 (“certain lands fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States. As this term implies, on these lands federal criminal law applies to the exclusion of state law. … [F]ederal enclave statutes… apply to lands within the ‘special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States,’ a term which includes ‘(a)ny lands reserved or acquired for the use of the United States, and under the exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction thereof'”)
This is part of why there’s a US Capitol Police, distinct from the MPDC.
I literally gave you proof from the DOJ and you deny it. You’re the one just makin sh!t up.
You provided no proof. As usual. Just makin’ sh1t up
Three of your comments were deleted for violating the Civility Policy. You would be better served by changing the tone of your words.
“In Bowman’s case, the criminal act is captured on videotape”
It’s not clear that it’s a criminal act.
@Anon.
It is clearly a criminal act(s)
A misdemeanor that Turley points out.
A felony for disrupting Congress which he avoids to talk about.
-G
No, it’s not clearly criminal.
As I pointed out elsewhere, the DC law doesn’t apply, because the Capitol Complex is a federal enclave (arguably the quintessential federal enclave).
And it’s unclear that Bowman broke any federal laws. Despite your claim, he didn’t disrupt any official proceeding. The official proceeding — the vote — was in the Capitol Building, a block away from where Bowman was in the Cannon Building (see the map here: https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/visit/maps-and-brochures/us-capitol-map). The USCP have confirmed that the fire alarm had no effect in any building other than Cannon.
He claims he did it by mistake (a misunderstanding of the signs on the door). Maybe he’s lying, maybe he’s telling the truth. But he has a right to the presumption of innocence just like Trump does for the crimes he’s been indicted for.
Was there a fire? No! Therefore, criminal act. Use J6 sentencing guidelines.
We talked this morning about the mental standard which since the beginnings of our country has nearly always meant that serious individuals with above average capacity to walk and chew gum at the same time were the individuals whom the citizenry would vote for.
Marjorie Taylor Green, Jammal Bowman, and a few others, have demonstrated through their words and actions they aren’t close to meeting the historic standard.
Do they even teach what the word ‘statesman’ means to kids in high school, as opposed to politician.
I’m also remembering Barbara Boxer decades ago reprimanding a military General for NOT addressing her as Senator, rather than the normal military words ‘sir’ and ‘m’am’ —
I didn’t hear any male Senators get upset over being called ‘sir.’ And I also recall Barbara Boxer unloaded her sizeable stake in Enron stock in the 70 to 80 dollar per share range right before it went bankrupt and the stock his 7 cents per share nearly overnight.
Barbara — i’m not sure you deserve the term M’am after that behavior!
Are there any adults in Congress?
Are you talking chronological age or mental age? We have quite a few senile adults who happen to be just as pernicious and dangerous as this lunatic.
“Republicans have suggested an alternative explanation: Bowman was attempting to disrupt the budget vote ”
That’s clearly a false explanation, since the vote was taking place in the Capitol Building, and Bowman was a block away in the Cannon Building, and the fire alarm in Cannon had zero impact on the vote in the Capitol.
The Cannon House Office Building is not “a block away” from the Capitol, as you assert repeatedly, but right across Independence Avenue. From the front steps of Cannon to the steps for the House, on the East Front of the Capitol, takes about two minutes to walk. A disruption caused by falsely pulling a fire alarm in Cannon could absolutely cause an impact on a vote in the Capitol, contrary to what you continue to assert.
The Capitol Building doesn’t lie right next to Independence Ave. Here’s a map (AOC = Architect of the Capitol, CHOB = Cannon House Office Building): https://www.aoc.gov/sites/default/files/accessiblepathwaysroute_2015_aoc.jpg
“A disruption caused by falsely pulling a fire alarm in Cannon could absolutely cause an impact on a vote in the Capitol, contrary to what you continue to assert.”
The USCP said it had no impact on any other building. I’ll trust them over your baseless claim.
U.S. Capitol Police confirmed in an earlier statement that the fire alarm caused an EVACUATION of the Cannon office building at 12:05 p.m. Eastern time.
Therefore, proceedings WERE impacted, not the physical building.
It’s both across a street AND a block away. The point is: it’s not the same building, and the evacuation in Cannon had no impact on the Capitol per the USCP.
Have you ever even BEEN to the Capitol? Having worked at the Capitol for 25 years (and for most of those years with the AOC on the board of the office I worked for), I can assure you that you don’t understand the situation, and that my claim is not “baseless.” From the main entrance of the Cannon Building to the House steps is about 150 yards total (and during votes, a USCP officer is there to keep the traffic lights RED, so members–from both Cannon and Longworth–can easily cross the street), plus there is the underground tunnel connecting the two buildings as well. If a false fire alarm in Cannon caused some of the representatives to have to leave the building by a back exit, they possibly might not have been able to get to the House chamber before the vote was completed. Your endless and ignorant assertions about the distance between those two buildings makes it sound like the Cannon Building is a long ways away, which it is not. If I–as an employee–had pulled that fire alarm as this representative did (caught on camera, no less!)–and especially during a roll-call vote–I would have lost my job. And by the way, if he felt he HAD to use the fire exit to leave Cannon, he could have simply pushed on the door push bar (which would have set off the alarm), rather than find the fire alarm itself, on a wall more than a few feet from the door.
U.S. Capitol Police confirmed in an earlier statement that the fire alarm caused an evacuation of the Cannon office building at 12:05 p.m. Eastern time.
Therefore, the proceedings WERE impacted!
Huh? How do you conclude that? How would evacuating the Cannon building impact a vote in the House?
I pulled a fire alarm in a public building once. I was 5.
we all know NO Democrat is get punished! The Rule of Law is DEAD!
Democrats ARE fighting a Civil War…their second
Republicans aren’t….they are FIGHTING to GIVE more money to Criminal Democrats
BTW the Rule of Law is dead…BLM riots, destroy, murders…virtual no one goes to jail and/or released shortly there after
Happened to be A republican on January 6th…a thousand people are jailed….many for OVER A YEAR for NOTHING!
DOJ, FBI, IRS, etc are 100% corrupt for Democrats
anyone go to jail for the Russian Hoax or Bidens MANY crimes? No…Trump is a indicted 100 times…for NO CRIME?
He committed a childish prank, and then lacked the moral fortitude to accept responsibility and apologize for it.
I doubt the law would be applied equally to him as, say, a conservative protestor seeking to disrupt Congress.
And as a former educator, he knew what he was doing. His intent was to disrupt a process regardless of the excuse coming from such legal authoirites as AOC and expulsion should be the least of his worries.
Of course he knew what he was doing. Nancy Pelosi knew that hair salons were shut down during Covid, when she got a salon to open just for her.
Elites are above the law. They do so love limiting what others can do, as long as it doesn’t apply to them.
There is an apropos “The Bee” article where Buffalo Man was chagrined to realize all he had to do was pull a fire alarm to disrupt Congress. Apparently, no one needed to lose their jobs, go to prison, or sit in solitary confinement, for engaging in a protest. Who did they think they were? BLM with get-out-of-jail-free cards? All they had to do was pull a fire alarm, and then no consequences would have been attached to them at all. They could have just…forgotten how to open a door.
The guy is an adult and a lawmaker, not a 12 year old. He should pay a max fine and apologize for being stupid and unable to control is impulses.
Was Bowman drunk?
Like a J6 insurrectionist, he disrupted an official proceeding.
Tough to serve in prison and congress at the same time.
He didn’t disrupt any official proceeding. The official proceeding was in the Capitol Building, a block away from where Bowman was in the Cannon Building. The USCP have confirmed that the fire alarm had no effect in any building other than Cannon.
U.S. Capitol Police confirmed in an earlier statement that the fire alarm caused an evacuation of the Cannon office building at 12:05 p.m. Eastern time. Therefore, proceedings were impacted!
How? How were proceedings in the House impacted by an evacuation in the Cannon building?
They didn’t stop the vote, no matter how many times YOU click your heels.
Prove it
Prove it?! You’re the one who is asserting that they stopped the vote, so YOU have to prove it. And you have offered no evidence whatsoever, no reason to even suppose it happened.
J-6 ers are in prison for less.
Charge him with “corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, or attempting to do so,” period.
We have a two tier political justice system, for Democrats and Republicans. The law will not apply to Democrats, while Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents simply complain about it. I don’t see the opposition being very effective in addressing the inequity.
He didn’t disrupt any official proceeding. The official proceeding was in the Capitol Building, a block away from where Bowman was in the Cannon Building. The USCP have confirmed that the fire alarm had no effect in any building other than Cannon.
So, your understanding is that this man is just dumb as a stump?
No. From what I understand, those doors are often open, he expected them to be open despite the sign on the door, he pushed on the door and found it locked, and he then pulled the fire alarm in response to his misreading of the instructions on the door. Seems like a stupid mistake to me. But even if you don’t agree, it’s still not disrupting an official proceeding.
Like I said, your understanding is that he is dumb as a stump and I would further add that he is in congress primarily because of his melanin content and his adherence to fanatic and unreliable ideologies promoted by the “community organizers” in his district.
I have found that most supporters of the prog/left DO NOT know what they are talking about 99% of the time – no surprise there.
U.S. Capitol Police confirmed in an earlier statement that the fire alarm caused an evacuation of the Cannon office building at 12:05 p.m. Eastern time.
Therefore, the proceedings WERE impacted.
Get your facts straight and quit with the false comments.
Repeating this nonsensical argument ten times doesn’t make it any more sensible. HOW were proceedings impacted? How could evacuating the Cannon building POSSIBLY impact the vote in the House? If you claim the vote was stopped, PROVE IT.
Meanwhile, Trump supporters are condemned to decades behind bars for walking peacefully through the Capitol after the cops opened the doors for them. Interesting paradox, no?
I think that he should be arrested, held in solitary at the DC city jail, then tried and sentenced to many years – just like everybody else accused of insurrection. After all, this was clearly an attempt to disrupt a lawful function of government. And then he would also be ineligible to hold any elected office, so expulsion would follow?
Oh that’s right – he’s a leftist democrat – the rules don’t apply to him.