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By: INN Staff
Progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) on Saturday pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon Building of the US House of Representatives, the House Administration Committee said.
The move came during what was reported to be a chaotic morning, with US lawmakers working to avoid a government shutdown.
Committee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) said the matter is under investigation.
“Rep. Jamal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in Cannon this morning. An investigation into why it was pulled is underway,” Steil said in a statement.
Initial reports say the alarm was pulled as the Democratic Party attempted to delay the shutdown vote.
New York Congresswoman Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) wrote on X, “This is the United States Congress, not a New York City high school. To pull the fire alarm to disrupt proceedings when we are trying to draft legislation to AVERT A SHUTDOWN is pathetic…even for members of the socialist squad.”
NBC News quoted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as calling for Bowman to be punished and the matter to be taken “seriously.”
“When you think about how other people were treated when they come in and wanted to change the course of what was happening in the building,” NBC quoted McCarthy as saying.
“This should not go without punishment,” McCarthy said. “I’m gonna have a discussion with the Democratic leader about it. But this should not go without punishment. This is an embarrassment.”
NBC added, “Bowman’s office acknowledged he pulled the alarm, but suggested it was unintentional.”
The New York Post noted that in the District of Columbia, creating a false fire alarm is a misdemeanor, and punishable by up to six months in jail.
Former US President Trump said on Sunday that Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) should be jailed for the “egregious act” of pulling the fire alarm ahead of the House’s vote on Saturday on a stopgap measure to keep the government open past the midnight deadline, The Hill reported.
“Will Congressman Jamaal Bowman be prosecuted and imprisoned for very dangerously pulling and setting off the main fire alarm system in order to stop a Congressional vote that was going on in D.C.,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “His egregious act is covered on tape, a horrible display of nerve and criminality.”
Bowman a day earlier acknowledged he triggered a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building, forcing the building to evacuate. Bowman claimed it was an accident as he rushed to vote on a last-minute bipartisan stopgap funding bill rolled out by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier in the day.
Republicans quickly accused the New York Democrat of intentionally trying to sabotage the high-stakes vote.
Trump claimed in Sunday’s statement that Bowman’s act was a “very dangerous ‘Obstruction of an Official Proceeding,’” the same charge that dozens face in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
“It was a very dangerous ‘Obstruction of an Official Proceeding,’ the same as used against our J-6 prisoners,” Trump wrote. “Actually, his act may have been worse. HE MUST SUFFER THEIR SAME FATE. WHEN WILL HIS TRIAL BEGIN???”
Fox News reported on Sunday that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tried to explain how, “in a moment of panic,” fellow Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in a congressional office building.