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House censures Rep. Jamaal Bowman for falsely pulling fire alarm
The House voted Thursday to censure Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York for falsely pulling a fire alarm in a Capitol Hill office building earlier this year, which led to a misdemeanor charge.
The 214-191 vote vote fell largely along party lines. Three Democrats voted with Republicans to censure Bowman, while four Democrats and one Republican voted “present” and 24 other Republicans and Democrats did not vote.
Bowman is the third House member to be censured this year and the 27th member in the history of the House of Representatives.
Rep. Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, forced a vote on the matter by introducing the resolution to censure Bowman as privileged on Tuesday, giving the House two legislative days to vote on it.
Democrats tried to prevent it from advancing on Wednesday but the vote on a motion to table it fell short of a simple majority.
Bowman pleaded guilty in October to a misdemeanor charge for activating a fire alarm that led to the office building’s evacuation before a last-minute vote to fund the government in September. He agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and serve three months of probation.
“Just over two months ago, I was rushing to the Capitol to vote and prevent a Republican shutdown,” he said Wednesday on the House floor. “When I tried to exit a door that I usually go through, it didn’t open and due to confusion and rush to go vote, I pulled the fire alarm.”
A Capitol Police officer investigating the incident said in an affidavit that there were three signs near the door that noted it was an emergency exit and that an alarm would sound. The incident was caught on a security camera.
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When Bowman tried opening the door and failed, he then turned to the fire alarm on the wall and triggered it, the affidavit said.
Republicans have argued that censuring Bowman would hold him accountable for breaking the law. Censure is a type of formal reprimand by the House for conduct that falls short of warranting expulsion. Democrats have countered that Bowman has already been held accountable by the legal process.
“What a profoundly stupid resolution,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, on Wednesday. “What a petty thing it is to bring this garbage to the floor.”
“It’s not pathetic,” said GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York. “What’s pathetic is somebody who’s a grown adult pulling a fire alarm like they’re in high school.”
Several Republicans, including Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, accused Bowman of triggering the alarm to purposely delay a vote on a bipartisan bill to keep the government open for 45 days and avoid a shutdown. At the time, Democrats were trying to buy time to read the bill.
“I don’t think he should be expelled,” Lawler said. “I think what he did was wrong. I don’t think it was an accident. It was absolutely done to disrupt a proceeding.”
Lawmakers have increasingly sought to censure their colleagues in recent years to score political points when they disagree with members of the opposing party.
Two Democrats have already been censured this year. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan was censured in a bipartisan vote in November after her defense of a rallying cry that is widely regarded as calling for the elimination of Israel. Republicans voted to censure California Rep. Adam Schiff in June for his role in congressional investigations of former President Donald Trump.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York on Wednesday railed against Republicans for using the tactic.
“Censuring member after member after member has brought disgrace to the institution, to the House of Representatives,” he said. “Going after Democrats repeatedly, week after week after week, because you have nothing better to do. Then I volunteer, censure me next.”
“That’s how worthless your censure effort is. It has no credibility, no integrity, no legitimacy,” Jeffries continued, again daring Republicans to censure him, which he said he would wear “like a badge of honor.”
On Wednesday, Westchester County executive George Lattimer announced his campaign to challenge Bowman in a primary next year. The 16th Congressional District includes Westchester County and the Bronx.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
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Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.