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.
There was a news report yesterday that mentioned that the police knew she did "not like to wear the pin." And that there were actually picyures of her posted in the station because of this. A spoiled, stupid, troublemaker.
money quote.
Never a dull moment :)
Looking at the precedent, the protection is construed to not apply at all to any criminal cases. Apparently it was meant for arrests under civil cases that were common at the time.
I don't know how they get off on speeding tickets though, maybe "Do you know who I am? I'm going to call your superior."
She cannot be detained on her way Congress due to minor offenses. It doesn't mean that she gets away scott-free and doesn't have to answer for the offense. The idea is to prevent police from (intenitonally) keeping Congresscritters from votes for minor offenses (real or imagined), not to exempt Congresscritters from the law.
"We would be put in jail, post a 1000 dollar bond, show up for trial and get 6 mos. probation"
Hey, if that's what happens to McKinney I'll be more or less satisfied with that. All I need is to see her in cuffs and lead off to spend a few hours in the can. If it's more than that, even better. Just so long as she isn't treated any differently than the rest of us would be.
If you attack a "regular joe", you've only attacked a person. If you attack an LEO in the course of doing his duty, you're attacking not only the person, but also the society that has charged him with that duty.
I thought it worked that a state official could make a report to congress, and congress could than act as it saw fit.
The point being to prevent a state who wanted to make a vote go a certain way from making up a crime to detain representatives of other states who had to pass through on the way to vote.
But you could see that if DC wanted to win an election on, say, voting rights, they could send their police down and round up all the republicans right before the vote, so the democrats could win for them.
"I lost my head and behaved very poorly. I was wrong and the officer was right. I sincerely apologize to him and to the capitol police, who do an excellent job protecting me and my fellow congresspersons. I behaved like a self-cetered empress instead of a servant of the people, and I am deeply sorry."
If she said that, she'd be forgiven in five minutes. I doubt she's capable of speaking honestly, though. As usual, the coverup is worse than the crime, and it looks like she's going to spin and lie her way into some deep trouble.
See my #108 with precedent, the protection doesn't apply at all to criminal offenses. The officer could have immediately cuffed her and hauled her off for assault. Of course he didn't want to risk his career in doing that, so he was smart and let the higher-ups deal with it.
Is she too much of a racist to flee in that white Bronco?
Oh, good. At last there's a political story I can enjoy.
"We know there were numerous warnings of the events to come on September 11... Those engaged in unusual stock trades immediately before September 11 knew enough to make millions of dollars from ...airlines, certain insurance and brokerage firms' stocks. What did the Administration know, and when did it know it ...?"
What a truly disgraceful thing for a Member of Congress to say.
Now she contemptuously strikes a sworn officer, ugh.
Now, I'm not spiteful, but I just might enjoy watching Ms. McKinney do a perpwalk.
.
Exactly. She is not immune from arrest.
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
... and spokesmodel for "Hair Club for Women" ...
I thought they could not arrest a sitting member of congress for such as she did, while said congress is in session.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.