‘You Weren’t Straight About What Happened!’ Manu Raju Corners Jamaal Bowman About Fire Alarm Fiasco

CNN’s Manu Raju cornered Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) shortly after he pled guilty to pulling a fire alarm in a House office building, despite originally claiming he did so “mistakenly.”

Raju tweeted the video clip that was posted to YouTube by Forbes.

“Asked Jamaal Bowman yesterday why he initially said he ‘mistakingly’ thought the fire alarm would open the door — yet later pleaded guilty to ‘willfully or knowingly’ pulling the alarm falsely,” Raju tweeted. “’I was straight from the very beginning,’ he said.”

On the recording, Bowman appeared irritated by Raju’s line of questioning.

“Why did you plead guilty to knowingly pulling that fire alarm when you said you didn’t know it? Initially told us you didn’t know it was a fire alarm,” Raju asked.

“Why are we still talking about this, man?” Bowman answered. “That’s behind me, that’s been adjudicated. We’re done. Pay the fine; move forward; and in three months, it will be dismissed.”

“You weren’t straight about what happened initially,” Raju retorted.

“I was very straight. I was straight from the very beginning.”

“You said you didn’t know!”

“I was straight from the beginning,” Bowman insisted.

Bowman then answered another reporter’s question about the same matter with, “Yeah, whatever, man.”

Raju continued, “Can you just explain why you said that in the beginning?”

“We already talked about this. Anything else?” Bowman said before signing off with, “Peace and love, y’all,” and walking away.

Bowman was charged with a misdemeanor count for pulling the alarm on Sept. 30, as the House was working to prevent a government shutdown.

The Cannon Office building was subsequently evacuated, temporarily pausing the House vote on a critical funding package. Bowman originally claimed he mistakenly pulled the alarm as he tried to open a door to get to the House floor.

“He will pay a $1,000 fine and serve three months of probation, after which the false fire alarm charge is expected to be dismissed from his record under an agreement with prosecutors,” The Associated Press reported.

In a statement released after his plea, Bowman said, “I am responsible for activating a fire alarm, I will be paying the fine issued, and look forward to these charges being ultimately dropped.”

Watch the clip above via YouTube.