Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) Assaults Capital Hill Police Officer (Arrest Imminent)

[PittsburghAfterDark]

Web Editor: Michael King
Last Modified: 3/29/2006 5:55:55 PM

According to sources on Capitol Hill, U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) punched a Capitol police officer on Wednesday afternoon after he mistakenly pursued her for failing to pass through a metal detector.

Members of Congress are not required to pass through metal detectors.

Sources say that the officer was at a position in the Longworth House Office Building, and did not recognize McKinney, nor saw her credentials as she went around the metal detector.

The officer called out, ?Ma?am, Ma?am,? and walked after her in an attempt to stop her. When he caught McKinney, he grabbed her by the arm.

Witnesses say McKinney pulled her arm away, and with her cell phone in hand, punched the officer in the chest.

McKinney?s office has not responded to requests for comment.

According to the Drudge Report, the entire incident is on tape.

Drudge continues, "The cop is pressing charges, and the USCP (United States Capitol Police) are waiting until Congress adjurns to arrest her, a source claims."
11Alive.com (http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=77991)

Just wait until the charges of racism fly on this one.??I'm sure Ms. McKinney will play the race card as her defence if or when charges are filed.

[E-Z-B]

Supposedly, the officer grabbed her by the arm from behind, so she probably hit the man out of instinct, but I have to see the tape.

Members of the House do not have to go through the metal detectors. Even if she didn't have a badge on, how could the police officers not recognize one of the few black women representatives in the House?

But again, I'll have to wait for the tape.

[PittsburghAfterDark]

McKinney Cancels News Conference

POSTED: 4:21 pm EST March 29, 2006
UPDATED: 10:57 am EST March 31, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Capitol Hill police plan to issue an arrest warrant today for Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.).

The warrant is related to the incident Wednesday when McKinney allegedly slapped a Capitol Hill police officer.

Charges could range from assault on a police officer, which is a felony carrying a possible five year prison term, to simple assault, which is a misdeamenor.

McKinney has canceled a news conference that she had scheduled for this morning to discuss the incident.

McKinney issued a statement yesterday saying she "deeply regrets" the confrontation with the police officer.

The six-term congresswoman apparently struck a Capitol Police officer when he tried to stop her from entering a House office building without going through a metal detector. Members of Congress wear identifying lapel pins and routinely are waved into buildings without undergoing security checks. The officer apparently did not recognize McKinney, she said in a statement.

Asked on-camera Thursday by Channel 2 Action News whether she intended to apologize, McKinney refused to comment.

"I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, and I appreciate the work that they do. I have demonstrated my support for them in the past and I continue to support them now," she said in the statement on her Web site.

Democrats and Republicans, meanwhile, engaged in a rhetorical scuffle over the incident.

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday labeled it "a mistake, an unfortunate lack of recognition of a member of Congress." She added that the police officer was not at fault.

"I would not make a big deal of this," said Pelosi, D-Calif.

Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., responded: "How many officers would have to be punched before it becomes a big deal?"

The dustup is the latest in a series of tangles for the roughly 1,200-officer Capitol Police department.

The department faces a difficult task -- protecting 535 members of Congress and the vast Capitol complex in an atmosphere thick with politics and privilege.

The safety of its members became a sensitive issue after a gunman in 1998 killed two officers outside the office of then-Republican Whip Tom DeLay of Texas.

More recently, police obeyed an order by an angry House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., to remove Democrats from a hearing room. Thomas later tearfully apologized on the House floor.

This year, during President Bush's State of the Union address, police drew criticism for first kicking antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan out of the House gallery, and then for evicting the wife of Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla.

Merle Black, a professor of politics at Emory University, says that while the scuffle was rare for an elected politician, it's unlikely to cost McKinney more than a few votes. Black says McKinney is in damage control -- cutting her losses by not insisting on right or wrong.
WSB-TV Atlanta (http://www.wsbtv.com/news/8343403/detail.html)

Time to play the....
http://www.pigazette.com/Pig%20images/race_card.jpg

[PittsburghAfterDark]

Well not 5 hours after the arrest announcement coming here it comes!

It's the race card.

Defense? A lawyer for Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia congresswoman who had an altercation with a Capitol Police officer, says she was "just a victim of being in Congress while black."

Yep, saw that one coming a country mile away.

Lawyer Says McKinney a Victim in Scuffle
Mar 31 4:08 PM US/Eastern

By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON

A lawyer for Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia congresswoman who had an altercation with a Capitol Police officer, says she was "just a victim of being in Congress while black."

McKinney awaited word Friday on whether she would be charged for apparently striking the officer after she entered a House office building this week unrecognized and did not stop when asked.

Two law enforcement officials said it was unlikely a warrant would be issued this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Her lawyer, James W. Myart Jr., said, "Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, like thousands of average Americans across this country, is, too, a victim of the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials because of how she looks and the color of her skin."

"Ms. McKinney is just a victim of being in Congress while black," Myart said. "Congresswoman McKinney will be exonerated."

A spokeswoman for U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Members of Congress wear identifying lapel pins and routinely are waved into buildings without undergoing security checks. McKinney was not wearing her pin at the time, and the officer apparently did not recognize her, she has said.

"Congresswoman McKinney, in a hurry, was essentially chased and grabbed by the officer," Myart said. "She reacted instinctively in an effort to defend herself."

Several Capitol Police officials have said the officer involved asked McKinney three times to stop. When she did not, he placed a hand on her and she hit him, they said.

Asked on-camera Thursday by WSB-TV of Atlanta whether she intended to apologize, McKinney declined to comment. A news conference scheduled for Friday morning was canceled. She had issued a statement late Wednesday saying she regretted the confrontation.

"I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, and I appreciate the work that they do. I have demonstrated my support for them in the past and I continue to support them now," she said in the statement on her Web site.

Actor, Danny Glover was expected to appear at an early-evening news conference Friday with McKinney at Howard University.

That gave Republicans material to keep the criticism flowing.

"Rep. McKinney appearing with the star of 'Lethal Weapon'? Not exactly the message you want to be sending," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

In January, during President Bush's State of the Union address, Capitol Police drew criticism for first kicking anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan out of the House gallery, and then for evicting the wife of Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla.

The department is tasked with protecting the 535 members of Congress and the vast Capitol complex in an atmosphere thick with politics and privilege.

The safety of its members became a sensitive issue after a gunman in 1998 killed two officers outside the office of then-Republican Whip Tom DeLay of Texas.
Link (http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/31/D8GMPKR81.html)

[E-Z-B]

Has anyone seen the video yet? I've been waiting, but haven't seen anything yet. I'll pass judgement later once I see it.

[Labrocca]

She is a nut.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/05/mckinney.scuffle/index.html?section=cnn_topstories


McKinney, a Democrat from suburban Atlanta, didn't stop at an officer's request last week, then turned around and hit him after he reached out and grabbed her, said Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer.

"Even the high and the haughty" should be able to stop and identify themselves as members of Congress if confronted at a security checkpoint, Gainer said. "The response is not to hit a police officer."

Asked to describe what happened, McKinney, who has said the incident is about racial profiling, told CNN, "Let me first say this has become much ado about a hairdo." (Watch McKinney deflect questions -- 10:46)

McKinney, who for years wore her hair in cornrows, recently changed her hairstyle to loose spirals.

"Let me stop you there," CNN's Soledad O'Brien during an interview Wednesday on "American Morning."

"You can't stop me, Soledad. The real issue is face recognition and security around the Capitol complex," McKinney said.

O'Brien continued to press: "Somebody, anybody, lawyer, congresswoman ... just tell me what happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened," McKinney said. "In fact, over 250 black police officers have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Capitol Police Department."

"Forgive me for my lack of clarity," O'Brien said. "What happened that day, ma'am?"

Citing potential criminal charges against McKinney, one of her attorneys, Mike Raffauf, stepped in. "This is not going to be a place we rehash the facts of this incident," he said.

[Labrocca]

WOW...go to that CNN link I posted and watch McKinney totally dodge the question of "what happened that day". I commend the CNN intereviewer on being tough. Seems to me like McKinney should be arrested. Fuck her.

[E-Z-B]

If she intentionally hit the police officer knowing what she was doing, then she should be arrested. But no one's seen the video yet to know what really happened.

[KrAzY3]

The sad thing about this entire ordeal is that this is her acting sane...

You have to watch video clips of her to get the full-on insanity but this details a few things she's done:
http://www.conservativetruth.org/article.php?id=607&PHPSESSID=bdb98a27a01cbea361a8c1686762feb9

[Labrocca]

WOW..what a nut she really truely definitely is.

I bet she doesn't want to say what happened because she knows that eventually this video will get out and she will look bad. Gosh the Democratic party is full of nuts.

[KrAzY3]

Gosh the Democratic party is full of nuts.


That's the funny thing about people thinking I am a conservative or pro-Bush or Republican. It isn't that I love Bush or Republicans, I disagree with a lot that they do. I just don't feel like I have much of a choice. Come on, Ted Kennedy? Robert Byrd? Jesse Jackson? Those are the guys I'm supposed to rally behind if I support the Democrats? I watch CSPAN and I hear a Democrat actually complaining that immigrants aren't supposed to go on welfare as soon as they immigrate. What? Is this the friggin' party line? Import people that earn zero income and put them on welfare right away? I really do wonder sometimes if that party isn't just collectively insane. The Republicans have become wasteful and arrogant and yet the public still has yet to side with the Democrats, largely because the Democrats have become so out of touch... I wish we had better alternatives.

[Labrocca]

Yeah Krazy I agree with you. Personally I want John Mccain to run in 08. Also I would have considered voting for Kerry but his nutty wife sealed the deal for me.

What is it going to take for the Dems to wrestle it's agenda away from the left-wing? btw-that would make for a fine editorial if you wanted to write it up.

[PittsburghAfterDark]

McCain is a disgrace.

From his 1st Ammendment squashing McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform to bitching that not enough Senators are in favor of his $2,000 fine to become a citizen program I can't think of a Republican I despise more. I'd sooner Howard Dean became President than McCain.

At least you'd know the enemy you see.

[Labrocca]

Yeah PAD I know you have expressed your dislike for him often enough. It will be interesting to see if he can convince more republicans like yourself to support him. Oddly I think he gets more support from Dems. Maybe that's the real problem. I just think McCain has more integrity in his left pinky than 100 senators put together.

Anyways this topic is about Cynthia McKinney. You have any thoughts on her antics?

[PittsburghAfterDark]

She's certifiable.

I knew she'd play the race card, she did. What I didn't really expect but not surprised by is trying to tie her to police abuse ala Rodney King and profiling.

It's just a joke, like she is. I know, she's black, she's from a black district, they'll never toss her nutty ass. There are few nut jobs in the House equal to Ms. McKinney, Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX), Maxine Waters (D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI) are all high up on my "How can black people elect these clowns and expect political respectability." list.

I also think Charlie Rangel is pretty far off the deep end but now and again I just can't help but like the guy. I guess it's because the guy has guts enough to go on the air with Hannity time after time and face his most vehement opponent. That I can respect.

Ms. McKinney has blanketed herself in the whoa is me I'm black blanket and seems perfectly okay with making every other normal black person look foolish for voting for her. She's surrounded herself with race baiting spokespeople and attorneys and there is nothing worse than that in the poverty pimp crowd.

[PittsburghAfterDark]

McKinney apologizes on House floor

Federal grand jury considers charges in scuffle with Capitol police

By BOB KEMPER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/06/06

Washington ? With a federal grand jury considering whether to charge her with assault, Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia went on the House floor Thursday and apologized for her role in a scuffle with a Capitol Police officer last week.

"There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney, surrounded by a handful of lawmakers, said.

'I want to categorically deny that I did anything wrong,' Rep. McKinney had said on WETA-FM in suburban Washington Wednesday.

"I am sorry this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize," McKinney said, drawing applause from the partially-filled chamber.

To demonstrate her "gratitude and appreciation" for Capitol police, McKinney said she would vote for a House resolution praising the police that was originally introduced by Republicans who wanted to use it to symbolically chastise McKinney.

McKinney appeared on the House floor around midday just as a federal grand jury was preparing to hear from subpoenaed congressional aides who witnessed her confrontation with a Capitol Hill police officer last Wednesday.

An officer, who didn't recognize McKinney, tried to stop her from going around a security checkpoint in a House office building as members of Congress and their staffs are allowed to do. The officer called to McKinney to stop and, when she didn't, put his hand on her, prompting McKinney to spin around and allegedly strike the officer.

The federal prosecutor in Washington turned the case over to the grand jury to determine whether charges should be filed against McKinney. The charge can range from assault on a police officer, a felony, to simple assault, a misdemeanor. The grand jury and prosecutor also could just drop charges.

McKinney has been keeping a very high profile since the incident occurred, asserting in press conferences and television interviews that she was the victim of racial profiling. The officer who stopped McKinney, an African-American, was white.

McKinney made no reference to racial profiling in her statement on the House floor.

But even as McKinney appeared to be trying to put the issue to rest, a bodyguard she hired ? reportedly a former Georgia state trooper ? was raising another furor when he threatened a television reporter trying to interview McKinney outside the Capitol just minutes before she appeared on the House floor.

When the reporter from Cox Broadcasting tried to ask McKinney about the grand jury, the bodyguard told him, "I'm going to put your ass in jail. I'm a police officer," a videotape of the incident shows.

Asked if he worked for Capitol police, the man said, "I work for Miss McKinney."

Word that McKinney had hired a bodyguard roiled the ranks of the Capitol police who were worried that the guard was carrying a weapon. They said they are concerned about what the bodyguard might do if Capitol police challenged McKinney at a security checkpoint.

McKinney's office did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.

Scott MacFarlane of Cox Broadcasting contributed to this report.
AJC.com (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/0406natmckinney.html)

An idiot surrounds herself with idiots.

Is anyone really surprised this is the kind of security personnel this twit surrounds herself with?

[Labrocca]

Funny I like Rengel too for his personality but you are right that at times he goes a little to the left on an issue. I was not aware of McKinney before this. This site will be educating me on a daily basis. I watched her CNN interview with Wolf Blitz and she was just a nut. You can tell she is guilty as all hell. I still hope they indict her for assault. A fenlony conviction would end her career.

Also she lost in seat at one point but got it back. I have a feeling she is going to lose it for good this time.

[Old Corps Gunny]

Cynthia McKinney has made it a habit of not wearing her Congressional pin and, when challenged, complaining to the Master-at-Arms and the Capitol police supervisor of security at the Capitol building. At one point a picture of her was posted at the security checkpoints with the legend "REMEMBER THIS REPRESENTATIVE" (this was before she changed her hairstyle). All in all, the actions of someone who is actively seeking to provoke an incident. Ms McKinney needs to remember that security in the Capitol building was increased when a gunman got in and two Capitol policemen were killed trying to apprehend him. It is even more paramount today with the increased terrorist threat. Perhaps Ms McKinney thinks she will be immune because of her long-time anti-Semitic rantings, or her support for the Islamic terrorists. Bombs don't discriminate, nor do "racial profiling".

[Labrocca]

If anyone is racial profiling it's her.