Jamaal Bowman Censured By the House for Fire Alarm Stunt

The House of Representatives on Thursday censured controversial Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) for having pulled a fire alarm in a congressional building in late September in an alleged effort to delay a vote.

The resolution to censure Bowman passed the GOP-led House by a margin of 214 too 191 with three Democrats voting with the Republicans.

Bowman claimed he pulled the fire alarm by mistake in a statement he put out shortly after the incident. “I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door,” he said. “I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused.”

“But I want to be very clear, this was not me, in any way, trying to delay any vote. It was the exact opposite — I was trying urgently to get to a vote, which I ultimately did and joined my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to keep our government open,” Bowman claimed at the time.

Republicans were quick to accuse Bowman of wrongdoing and suggested the fire alarm pulling was part of Democrat’s efforts to delay a vote on a 71-page stopgap spending measure so they might have more time to read the bill.

Security footage of Bowman pulling the fire alarm was eventually made public. The footage showed the congressman calmly taking down warning signs on blocked exit doors noting that a fire alarm would signal if doors are opened before eventually pulling the alarm. CNN’s Manu Raju later confronted Bowman and accused him of “not being straight about what happened, which Bowman defiantly denied — despite the video evidence.

Bowman was later charged with a misdemeanor that he pled guilty to. The New York Democrat was fined $1,000 and the charges were dropped upon his paying the fine.

“I am responsible for activating a fire alarm, I will be paying the fine issued, and look forward to these charges being ultimately dropped,” Bowman said of the resolution.

This is a developing story and has been updated.