Democrat Congressman and “Squad” member Jamaal Bowman has been accused of pulling a fire alarm to stall a crucial House budget vote while lawmakers scramble to avoid a government shutdown. Bowman was caught on camera triggering the alarm in one of the Senate office buildings while Republicans were due to begin voting on a stopgap measure to avert a shutdown.
House Republicans swiftly condemned the disruption as “outrageous” and “criminal.” After Capitol Police released a photo showing Bowman pulling the alarm, Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed consequences and said an investigation was warranted. “This should not go without punishment.”
“When you think of how other people are treated when they wanted to come in and change the course of what was happening in this building,” he said, referencing the January 6 riot.
“This is an embarrassment. You’re elected to be a member of Congress. You pulled the fire alarm in a minute of hours before the government being shut down, trying to dictate that government would shut down. What’s going through a person’s mind like that? But, we will find the right ability to deal with this.”
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🚨 JUST IN: Marjorie Taylor Greene is calling for the arrest of Jamaal Bowman after he pulled a fire alarm during an official proceeding.
Do you support this? 🙋🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/vK0bZs6WoC
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) September 30, 2023
After the incident, several other House Republicans weighed in.
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called on the Department of Justice to prosecute Bowman for obstruction of Congress. Greene urged officials to hold the Democrat lawmaker accountable under the same law used to charge January 6 rioters. “It’s on video; he violated the exact same law that January 6th defendants are being prosecuted for every single day.”
“This is unprecedented. The democrats will do anything to make sure it’s shut down because billions of dollars are not going to their favorite country – Ukraine.”
New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler called Bowman’s actions “shameful” and urged him to resign from Congress.
“That any member of Congress would think it’s appropriate to pull a fire alarm to try and delay Congress from doing its business is shameful,” Lawler said. “It’s unbecoming. And he should strongly consider resigning from Congress if he did that.”
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, also from New York, is reportedly planning to introduce a resolution on Monday to expel Bowman from the House.
According to a Fox News report, Bowman has called the allegations against him “total BS.”
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I know there are going to be even funnier attempts by the media to defend Jamaal Bowman — even though what he’s alleged to have done isn’t just a crime but a felony under the theories of the Jan 6 case — but the way they degrade themselves for Dems like this is hilarious:👇 https://t.co/sUXXmaMEpT
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 30, 2023
Bowman’s Chief of Staff, Sarah Idrissu, posted to X on Saturday claiming that her boss “did not realize” that he would trigger a building alarm by pulling on the fire alarm.
“Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote,” Iddrissu said. “The Congressman regrets any confusion.”
Bowman later told reporters that he thought pulling on the alarm would open a door. Photos of the door were released, showing it to be manually operated and clearly marked as an emergency exit.
“I was just trying to get to my vote,” he said.
“The door that’s usually open wasn’t open. And you know, I didn’t mean to cause confusion… I didn’t know I was going to trip the whole building. I thought it would help me open the door.”
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