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ISAIAH J. POOLE and MICHAEL TEITELBAUM
Congressional Quarterly Today





With the Justice Department reviewing a complaint about a March 29 altercation between Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney and a Capitol Police officer, a leader of McKinney's own party seemed Tuesday to be siding with the cop.

"It is the responsibility of every member of Congress, every staff person, every visitor to the Capitol, and anybody else . . . to cooperate fully with the Capitol Police, who have been given an extraordinarily important and difficult responsibility to keep the Capitol safe," said Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat. "It does not appear that that happened."

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia is reviewing an April 3 complaint from the Capitol Police alleging that McKinney, D-Ga., assaulted an officer.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein could decide not to prosecute, to issue an arrest warrant or to refer the case to a grand jury for consideration of either a misdemeanor or felony indictment.

McKinney has acknowledged that she was not wearing her congressional identification pin when she skirted a metal detector in the Capitol complex.

She has insisted, however, that she has been in office long enough that everyone on the police force should recognize her, whether wearing a pin or not, and even after a significant change of hairstyle.

A Capitol Police officer sought to stop her and, according to McKinney, touched her in an "inappropriate" manner.

McKinney has strongly indicated but has not declared that the incident was racially motivated.

Some of her supporters, however, have made that assertion.

Her Georgia colleague, Democrat John Lewis, was seen conferring with McKinney on the House floor Tuesday. He later called the incident with the police officer "unfortunate," but added, "I don't think anything justifies the hitting of a law enforcement officer."

He also questioned suggestiosn that the incident was racially motivated, noting that he has been stopped by police several times and knows a number of white colleagues who have as well.

"We get stopped all the time, but it is in the name of security," he said, adding that he hopes McKinney will take steps to "lower the temperature" around the conflict. Resolution Introduced

Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida and Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina also came to the defense of the police on Tuesday. They introduced a resolution (H Res 756) that would express the House's gratitude and appreciation for the "professional manner in which the Capitol Police carry out their diverse missions" as well as the police force's dedication to protecting the Capitol.

In a joint statement, Diaz-Balart noted that the police "confront real and false threats every day, and when necessary have put their lives on the line to ensure everyone else's safety."

McHenry added: "The right thing to do is to commend these men and women. They deserve a pat on the back, which is more appropriate than what they've gotten lately."

A House floor vote on the resolution has not been scheduled.

Source: CQ Today Round-the-clock coverage of news from Capitol Hill. ©2006 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Posted by: csauce777

Its about time...come on...this has nothing to do with race. If she had her required pin on, he wouldnt have stopped her. Either way...she has no right to hit the officer. Its only because she was in the Capital that she didnt end up in handcuffs or wth OC covering her new "Hairstyle." Maybe she will use her head next time.

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Posted by: dcs2244

Yeah, use it to stop that ASP!

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