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.
Actually I am surprised she didn't play it from day one.
Good night, this woman is a total looney tune. She is one lost election away from wandering the streets mumbling to herself while pushing a shopping basket full of random garbage, dishelved lice-ridden hair, filthy clothing and a foul stench. Hell, by the look of her she's already there.
LOL..of course. It was obvious she wrote her own speech that day - incoherent.
Trouble with the law is a plus for her constituency - she'll get 110% of the vote next election.
An arrest warrant. I'm in heaven.
That's an amazing list! What is it with her and muslim physicians?
The inmates are running the asylum. This lady has 'issues,' to use a contemporary word.
It's worth a try!
The arrogant hussy!
Who told these people they were special? They're representatives, not Royalty. We own their butts!
Will McKinney step down?
don't hold your breadth.
Stop the violence!
Assault on a Capitol Police Officer will not fall to Washington, DC's jurisdiction. They are federal LEO's. She's subject to federal law on this one.
WTF does that incident have to do with McKinney's illegal actions of ASSAULT ON A COP?? Answer: Not a damn thing.
To parse further: "We don't have to follow the laws that we create for the rest of you peons. We can be trusted but the great unwashed taxpayer cannot"
What time is here frog march and should where should we Freepers gather.
Especially a democrap as we know they want the USA to lose the war on terror is it will get them elected.
I do not like, however, the growing trend of the government to wall itself from the citizens. The ruling class must be getting very nervous, 2nd Amendment and all you know.
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