For your viewing pleasure: Her news conference has been re-scheduled for 5:30 p.m. (Atlanta time) and she's bringing actor Danny Glover with her. www.11Alive.com will carry the news conference live!!
Georgia Congresswoman Faces Arrest for Scuffle
WXIA/Associated Press
ATLANTA, GA -- Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney delayed a scheduled news conference Friday morning as U.S. Capitol police reportedly made plans to seek an arrest warrant against her for striking a police officer.
McKinney's office says the news conference is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. They say that actor Danny Glover will also be present at the news conference to be held on Howard University's campus in northwest Washington. 11Alive.com will carry the news conference live.
McKinney, a Democrat, represents Atlanta suburbs that make up one of Georgia's two black-majority districts. She planned to hold a news conference with her lawyer on Friday at 11 a.m., but an aide in her office said a new time and date for the news conference were being arranged.
The six-term congresswoman is said to have hit a Capitol Police officer in the chest earlier this week when he stopped her from entering the building without going through a metal detector. McKinney said she was not wearing a lapel pin identifying her as a House member, but that she did display her Congressional identification badge.
The charges, if they are filed against her, could include felony assault on a police officer or simple assault, which is a misdemeanor. Before police can make an arrest, the U.S. Attorney's office has to approve the warrant and then notify the U.S. Justice Department because the warrant involves a sitting member of Congress.
U.S. Capitol Police said there is surveillance video of the confrontation between the officer and McKinney, but they say the video will not be released. McKinney released a statement saying she deeply regrets the incident, but was rushing to a meeting when the officer failed to recognize her. "Unfortunately, the Police Officer did not recognize me as a Member of Congress and a confrontation ensued," the statement read.
McKinney said that government security officers often fail to recognize her and treat her like a criminal suspect. Her staff members are defending her by distributing a clip of her from the new film "American Blackout." As McKinney shows the filmmaker around the capitol grounds, a security officer fails to recognize her at first and stops her.
"That's just typical of the type of treatment I receive. It's typical. So, I'm not surprised and I'm not offended," McKinney said in the film. "Okay. Thank you. Some things never change."
The incident has become the topic of much-heated debate on talk radio and for Democrats and Republicans on the Hill. 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?"