Right-wing media fell over themselves to report that a “radical” Democrat and “member of the socialist squad” had forced the budget CR (Continuing Resolution) vote to be delayed because he pulled a fire alarm that caused the building to be evacuated.
Seditionist Andy Biggs (R-AZ) Xed:
Radical Dem Rep. Jamaal Bowman just pulled the fire alarm in the House’s Cannon Building, which forced an evacuation and delayed votes. I view this as interfering with official legislative proceedings. He is an insurrectionist.
The Hill quoted Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY):
“To pull the fire alarm to disrupt proceedings when we are trying to draft legislation to AVERT A SHUTDOWN is pathetic…even for members of the socialist squad.”
Marj Green (R-GA) was also quoted:
“I’m demanding that the Department of Justice prosecute him using the same way they prosecuted January 6 defendants. It’s the exact same law,” Greene said, pointing to a federal statute that prohibits obstructing or impeding any official proceeding.
McCarthy called a press conference. From nbcnews.com:
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called for Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., to be punished after he pulled a fire alarm in a Capitol office building on Saturday, comparing it to the Jan 6 rioters who attacked the building.
“When you think about how other people were treated when they come in and wanted to change the course of what was happening in the building,” McCarthy said.
Rep Nicole Malliotakis added to her statement that she is drafting a resolution to expel Bowman from the House.
Wow! Serious stuff, right?
Wrong. And it’s so very wrong. Let me count the ways.
What really happened?
Rep Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) was in the Cannon Building which houses congressional offices when he received an alert that the House was readying to vote on a Continuing Resolution to keep the government open for a further 45 days. He went to the nearest external door, an emergency exit that is opened for members when there’s an imminent vote.
But this time the door was not open nor was it manned by security. However, two bright red signs propped against the windows of the door provide directions in an emergency.
Rep Bowman then pushed the obvious alarm button on the wall as per the sign’s instructions.
The video shot is very grainy and blurred and, contrary to right-wing reports, does not identify Rep Bowman. The only way we know for certain that it is him is because he identifies himself in the screenshot.
What happened next?
The fire alarm sounded as the sign said it would. But what happened subsequently isn’t in the public domain so far so I can only extrapolate from what is known to have happened later, ie there’s irrefutable evidence that Rep Bowman did get to the House chamber for the vote. It’s recorded in the official Congressional Roll Call kept by the Clerk of the House.
Did Rep Bowman know he’d inadvertently pushed the wrong alarm button? If the fire alarm triggered the door lock to click open, then he may not have realised immediately but hurried on his way.
What we know from their report of the incident is that Security personnel did evacuate the building of the few people who were there and, after checking the building was safe, gave the all-clear. The alarm sounded internally and was resolved internally within minutes. No fire unit was dispatched to the site.
How did this incident affect those in the Capitol Building?
According to the soap opera dramatics of the magadon GOP, the alarm “forced an evacuation and delayed votes” that “interfered with/disrupted/obstructed/impeded official legislative proceedings.” Their framing of the incident deliberately infers that the alarm was sounded in the Capitol Building which forced members to evacuate thereby causing a delay in voting.
None of this inference is true. The alarm only sounded in the Cannon Building which is almost half a mile from the Capitol Building.
No one in the Capitol Building could’ve heard the alarm and they didn’t even know about it until several hours later. It had exactly zero effect on proceedings in the House chamber. To state otherwise is not just a lie, it’s deliberate disinformation.
Did Rep Bowman have any reason to sabotage the vote?
Aside from the fact that Rep Bowman did not delay the continuing resolution vote and in no way disrupted House proceedings, to claim that he wanted to do so is utterly bizarre. Yet McCarthy accuses Jamaal Bowman of trying to change the course of what was happening in the building while Nicole Malliotakis is labouring under the delusion that Rep Bowman wanted the government to shut down and she wants to expel him for it.
Why is this batshit crazy? Because Jamaal Bowman not only made it to the House chamber in time, he voted FOR the continuing resolution, just as McCarthy and Maliotakis both did. With the exception of one Democrat (Rep Quigly from Illinois), the other 90 who voted against it were all magadon GOP, including Andy Biggs, Marj Green and Lauren Boebert.
What did Jamaal Bowman say about the incident?
Should there be an investigation?
Yes!
This may surprise you but bear with me. I’m not advocating for an investigation of Jamaal Bowman. All the actual evidence – as opposed to magadon fabulism – puts him decisively in the clear.
UPDATE: A Capitol Police investigation into the fire alarm incident confirms Rep Bowman’s account of what happened.
The person who should be investigated is whoever is charged with the job of opening the emergency exit door in the Cannon Building whenever a vote in the House is imminent. That person failed to do their duty and it’s important to find out why they fell down on the job. The reason Cannon Building Security needs to make this a priority is in order to rule out malicious intent to delay or prevent members from making it to the Capitol in time to vote.
So yes, this is the investigation that needs to happen.
Final comments
In researching this article I came across a particular comment that made me genuinely laugh out loud. It was in response to Boebert’s scatter-brained twitterings and I want to remind you before you read on, that Boebert voted against funding the government.
Here is @CallToActivism’s classic response.
Gee, the ‘pubes are ever so concerned about insurrection. Where was this concern after the events of 6 Jan 2021? Seems to me when looking at the two events, only one warrants the label “insurrection” and it sure as f*ck isn’t what Representative Bowman did for WHATEVER reason he did it.
My guess is the ‘pubes in the House realize their “impeachment” inquiry is looking exactly like what it is, a sham, and want to deflect scrutiny.
As has been previously noted, the pubes MUST do everything to the Dems they feel has been done to them or it diminishes them as people. Their entire M.O. is REVENGE. As trumpleforeskin continually farts, “They did it to US”, “They did it to ME”. So, of course what Rep. Bowman did was EXACTLY the same as everything THEY did on January 6th. At least in their diseased brains.
They claim this BS to also deflect from them going against their own rules for time required to read the bill before voting. They broke their own rule.
Let me see:
Bowman mistakenly pulled a fire alarm so he could cast a vote on a bill he supported and voted for. Violence and a threat to commit murder were not involved.
Yup. *Exactly * the same thing.
sarcasm,in case anyone missed it.
On 1/6, 2021, a mob attempting to postpone a proceeding they opposed broke into the Capitol after screaming a desire to.hang the then-VP,Nancy Pelosis,and any Dems they could find,but particularly the Squad, who are PoC and female. They violently engaged with Capitol police, committed vandalism, and forced an evacuation of the Capitol, using weapons they brought with them as well,as flag poles and fire extinguishers, as they tried to.murder Capitol police.
If I could, I’d give you a thousand thumbs-up!
Incidentally one of the maga crazies declared that Rep Bowman’s actions were worse than Hitler’s. All I can say is that the person who said this was taking a nosedive from the ledge of the bizarre into the pit of insanity.
The sad part is GOP-Nazi Party member Nicole Malliotakis would have lost to Max Rose in 2022 if not for Trump and his NY Trump appointed judge having appointed a Trump friendly special master to redraw the House boundaries to gerrymander NY House Districts in favor of GOP candidates in NY State. Here’s the article that explains it all:
https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/11/9/23450433/max-rose-malliotakis-staten-island-brooklyn-redistricting-election
Thank you for the article, Steve. I knew there was a story there but I haven’t read up on it yet.