Members of Congress, Media Perplexed and Outraged Over Rep. Bowman Pulling Fire Alarm Before House CR Vote

Phillip NietoSep 30th, 2023, 6:26 pm
 

(Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)

After Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) pulled a fire alarm to delay a vote on legislation designed to avoid a government shutdown, members of the media and Congress expressed outrage as well as some light-hearted comedy.

Bowman pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building on Saturday and shortly after was questioned by Capitol Police. Bowman said via his spokesperson that he “did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote, adding that he “regrets any confusion.”

Republican lawmakers such as Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) compared his actions to the violence committed by the January 6th Capitol rioters. Greene encouraged her followers via a livestream on X (formerly known as Twitter) to demand Bowman be arrested and prosecuted by the DOJ “exactly the same” as the Jan 6th defendants.

Other Republican pundits ripped apart some of the holes in Bowman’s statement claiming he did not realize pulling the trigger would cause a building-wide alarm.

“He’s already inside the door – why would he need a lever to open it,” wrote Matt Whitlock on X. “He’s worked in the building for years and never had to pull a fire alarm to open a door. This is obviously crap and lying about it should lead to harsher punishment.”

Former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI) wrote a nuanced explanation for why Bowman may have pulled the fire alarm in a thread, but noted, “pulling the fire alarm in a House Office Building wouldn’t disrupt anything happening in Capitol/other buildings. If his intent (as some allege) was to delay votes, this was a dumb way to do it. Then again, the only other explanation is dumb too!”

Meanwhile, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) penned a resolution to have Bowman expelled from Congress and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) drafted an additional resolution to have him officially censured.

On top of that, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) decided to mock Bowman’s explanation with a sarcastic video explaining what happens when you pull a fire alarm. Senior Daily Beast media reporter Justin Baragona also fired off a joke directed at Bowman’s actions.

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