I’m not sure I’m a huge fan of Cynthia McKinney (D-GA). But an arrest warrant? This report says that Capitol Hill police plan to issue an arrest warrant for McKinney for striking a Capitol Hill police officer a couple days ago.
Now, that sounds pretty bad. And it ain’t great. But my understanding of what happened provides some important context.
Members of Congress don’t have to wait in line to go through the metal detectors on Capitol Hill. McKinney didn’t go through the metal detector. But one of the capitol police officers didn’t recognize McKinney as a member of Congress. He rushed toward her from behind and grabbed her by the arm. She in turn slugged or shoved him in the chest.
Another account suggests the police officer called for her to stop and she failed to heed the initial warnings.
I wasn’t there. I haven’t seen every account. But that’s my understanding of what happened.
I’m really not sure McKinney is the only member of Congress who, grabbed from behind by a capitol police officer, might not have, in the heat of the moment, swung a punch or shoved. They’re a proud bunch.
Again, I’m not defending it. I think McKinney is a bit of a hot-head. And she should be embarrassed by this and come in for her share of criticism. Moreover, from what I understand of the incident, the cop in question did just what he should have if he didn’t know who McKinney was. But would the capitol hill police be putting out an arrest warrant for a more wired member of the body? I really don’t think so.
If there’s context I don’t know, I’d like to learn more.
Late Update: Interesting, Justin Rood unearths a passage from a 2002 Slate profile which suggests that Capitol Hill police have a history of having a hard time remembering that McKinney is a member of Congress.
