He didn’t start the fire, but he did pull the alarm.
A growing chorus of lawmakers and political observers are raising eyebrows at Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s claim that pulling a fire alarm in a House building was an innocent mistake – with with some expressing anger over the fact he hasn’t been arrested.
The outspoken socialist New York lawmaker was caught on camera pulling a fire alarm Saturday, around the time fellow Democrats were scrambling over the GOP’s last-minute offer to avert a government shutdown.
“Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote,” his chief of staff, Sarah Iddrissu, later wrote on social media. “The Congressman regrets any confusion.”
But Bowman’s response to his pulling the clearly-labeled fire alarm in the Canaan House Office Building left many scratching their heads – and some of his fiercest GOP critics called on him to be thrown behind bars over the incident.
“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.,” former President Donald Trump declared.
“It was a very dangerous ‘Obstruction of an Official Proceeding,’ the same as used against our J-6 prisoners. Actually, his act may have been worse.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) conveyed a similar sentiment.
“Jamaal Bowman must be treated exactly the same as Jan 6 defendants. He was a school principal,” Greene posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“He knows exactly what pulling a fire alarm means. He did it while the Dems were trying to stall for time for the Senate and the Dem whip had just called for a motion to adjourn.”
Donald Trump Jr. also brought up those charged over the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol when calling out Bowman.
“If they don’t charge Rep Bowman, with a crime for endangering the lives of those in the capitol & obstructing congressional proceedings then they better let every single J6er that’s rotting in prison for nonviolent offenses out with an apology & compensation right f—ing now!” he fumed.
Obstructing an official government proceeding is illegal under federal law punishable by fines and “not more than 20 years.”
A House Administration Committee investigation into the incident is underway, and Bowman confirmed that he sat for questioning with the Capitol Police.
Bowman’s pulling of the fire alarm came as Democrats were desperately employing tactics to delay the vote over the Republican stopgap spending bill, with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (Brooklyn/Queens) using his privilege to make a speech and forcing a vote on a motion to adjourn.
He insisted to reporters afterward that’s he pulled it thinking it would open a door – and denied that he’d been trying to hold up the vote.
“I was rushing to make a vote, I was trying to get through a door. I thought the alarm would open the door,” he said. “I didn’t mean to cause confusion . . . I didn’t know it was going to trip the whole building.”
He added: “I want to be very clear, this was not me, in any way, trying to delay the vote. It was the exact opposite — I was trying urgently to get to a vote, which I ultimately did.”
Not everyone was buying it.
One lawmaker, Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), posted a stock photo image of a fire alarm and joked “I’m about to flush the toilet.”
“This is not confusing at all,” former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) chimed in. “There’s a push bar on the door below the sign.
“Members of Congress see these signs all the time and know exactly what they mean. I can’t even imagine thinking it has something to do with a fire alarm pull on the wall,” he continued. “Stop excusing his recklessness.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) posted a video showing a verbal spat he had with Bowman back in March, writing: “In case you missed it, this is the same stable individual who pulled the fire alarm today in the Capitol during votes.”
One reporter, Mona Salama, likened the chaos inside the halls of Congress Saturday to an episode of TV’s “The Office” in which delinquent salesman Dwight Schrute staged a fire drill.
“The House today in a nutshell,” she wrote.
Matthew Foldi, a political reporter for The Spectator, charged that, “Jamaal Bowman is a criminal who knowingly obstructed Congress The question I have, is did he do this as a solo mission or on orders from someone else?”
John Hasson, a writer for Townhall, noted that the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in the Bronx, where Bowman previously served as principal, threatens to suspend or expel students who pull the fire alarm mischievously.
Still, some Democrats and liberal pundits swooped to Bowman’s defense.
“If you’re a politician or pundit condemning Jamaal Bowman for pulling a fire alarm but said nothing last week when Paul Gosar called Gen. Milley a ‘sodomy-promoting’ traitor and ‘quisling’ who deserves to be hanged… well, forgive me if I don’t take your condemnations seriously,” MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan wrote.
“I think there’s there’s something to be said about — the government’s about to shut down. There’s a vote clock that’s going down. The exits that are normally open in that building were suddenly closed,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I’ll be honest, it doesn’t really make sense to me — his explanation,” host Jake Tapper replied.
Ocasio-Cortez also ripped Republicans for declining to penalize scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos (R-NY) who is under indictment and allegedly lied to House investigators among other transgressions.
“[Bowman] is embarrassed. He released a statement last night. He apologized,” she said. “[Republicans] are protecting someone who has not only committed wire fraud, not only defrauded veterans, not only lied to congressional investigators, but is openly gloating about it.”
Santos dogpiled on Bowman with a public service announcement explaining what fire alarms do and why not to trigger them needlessly.
“PSA: especially to all the boys and girls who were students at Cornerstone Academy for Social Action because your principal may not have taught you,” Santos posted on social media with a video explanation about fire alarms.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) seized on the snafu Sunday to deflect blame on Republicans for barreling the nation to the brink of a shutdown.
“[Democrats] went as far as pulling the fire alarm not to try to get the bill to come up [sic],” McCarthy told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “Democrats stick together, but they did not want the bill.”
Ultimately, the House passed the spending patch in a 335-91 vote and the package went on to clear the Senate and get President Biden’s signature.
