Congresswoman hits cop

[SuperJerk 0]

Capitol Police request arrest warrant for Georgia congresswoman

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. Capitol Police on Monday asked a federal prosecutor to approve an arrest warrant for Rep. Cynthia McKinney after she tangled with a uniformed officer last week.

 

"We are working with Capitol Hill police to fully understand and appreciate the incident," principal assistant U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

 

Citing the ongoing investigation, Phillips declined to say whether the referral included a recommended charge against the six-term Democrat or when a warrant for her arrest might be issued.

 

In a statement, Capitol Police said it "has referred its investigative findings to the U.S. attorney." The department must acquire approval from U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein before it can ask a judge to issue an arrest warrant on assault or other charges.

 

McKinney spokesman Coz Carson acknowledged the investigation.

 

"We're aware that the wheels are turning in Washington," Carson said. "We have no control over what they decide to do. We will make the appropriate statement and take the appropriate action once we know where they're going."

 

For her part, McKinney said she expects to represent her suburban Atlanta district for many years.

 

"Rest assured, I am doing the work they sent me to Washington to do. Nothing is going to keep me away from my responsibilities," McKinney told a crowd of supporters in Atlanta on Monday.

 

McKinney, 51, scuffled with a police officer on March 29 when she entered a House office building without her identifying lapel pin and did not stop when asked. Several police sources said the officer, who was not identified, asked her three times to stop. When she kept going, he placed a hand somewhere on her and she hit him, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

McKinney issued a statement of regret for the incident but no apology. At a press conference Friday, she and her lawyers declared that she was a victim of inappropriate touching and racism and said they were considering pursuing civil action against the officer.

 

Black clergy and lawmakers came to the defense of the firebrand congresswoman on Monday. McKinney smiled as her supporters heaped praise on her leadership and her new look -- her trademark cornrows replaced earlier this year by a curly brown afro.

 

Her supporters tried to minimize the incident -- which they called political, not criminal -- but they also suggested it was an example of racial profiling. They called publicity surrounding the episode a distraction that is being used by "her enemies" to keep the congresswoman from performing her elected duties.

 

The Rev. Reverend Darrell D. Elligan, president of Concerned Black Clergy, called McKinney competent, courageous and committed.

 

"She has our support unconditionally," Elligan said. "She is not a threat to the security of our country."

 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/03/mck...e.ap/index.html

[theintensifier 0]

Capitol Police request arrest warrant for Georgia congresswoman

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. Capitol Police on Monday asked a federal prosecutor to approve an arrest warrant for Rep. Cynthia McKinney after she tangled with a uniformed officer last week.

 

"We are working with Capitol Hill police to fully understand and appreciate the incident," principal assistant U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

 

Citing the ongoing investigation, Phillips declined to say whether the referral included a recommended charge against the six-term Democrat or when a warrant for her arrest might be issued.

 

In a statement, Capitol Police said it "has referred its investigative findings to the U.S. attorney." The department must acquire approval from U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein before it can ask a judge to issue an arrest warrant on assault or other charges.

 

McKinney spokesman Coz Carson acknowledged the investigation.

 

"We're aware that the wheels are turning in Washington," Carson said. "We have no control over what they decide to do. We will make the appropriate statement and take the appropriate action once we know where they're going."

 

For her part, McKinney said she expects to represent her suburban Atlanta district for many years.

 

"Rest assured, I am doing the work they sent me to Washington to do. Nothing is going to keep me away from my responsibilities," McKinney told a crowd of supporters in Atlanta on Monday.

 

McKinney, 51, scuffled with a police officer on March 29 when she entered a House office building without her identifying lapel pin and did not stop when asked. Several police sources said the officer, who was not identified, asked her three times to stop. When she kept going, he placed a hand somewhere on her and she hit him, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

McKinney issued a statement of regret for the incident but no apology. At a press conference Friday, she and her lawyers declared that she was a victim of inappropriate touching and racism and said they were considering pursuing civil action against the officer.

 

Black clergy and lawmakers came to the defense of the firebrand congresswoman on Monday. McKinney smiled as her supporters heaped praise on her leadership and her new look -- her trademark cornrows replaced earlier this year by a curly brown afro.

 

Her supporters tried to minimize the incident -- which they called political, not criminal -- but they also suggested it was an example of racial profiling. They called publicity surrounding the episode a distraction that is being used by "her enemies" to keep the congresswoman from performing her elected duties.

 

The Rev. Reverend Darrell D. Elligan, president of Concerned Black Clergy, called McKinney competent, courageous and committed.

 

"She has our support unconditionally," Elligan said. "She is not a threat to the security of our country."

 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/03/mck...e.ap/index.html

 

Okay. Psycho bitch here. There's a reason why they have a identfying label pin, security reasons. But obviously, she feels she's above the rules, and because she's black, can cite racism when she is stopped, and then assault a police officer. Then all of the black lawyers come crawling out of the wood work. Racism is a dead issue. Whatever.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/04/03/mck...e.ap/index.html

Racism is a dead issue. Whatever.

 

 

 

wow, where do YOU live?

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Okay. Since I'm from GA, I know a good bit about Cynthia. She's freaking crazy. This is her crazy story of the year.

 

One wonders how she still gets elected...

[NoCalMike 0]

I hate the fact that she even brings up the race issue in this because once again the meat of the issue will be deluded if not ignored.

 

The lady went around the security check point that EVERYONE IS SUPPOSED TO GO THROUGH, not only that but she did without having identification.

 

What makes her so special that she didn't have go through this procedure?

[SuperJerk 0]

What makes her so special that she didn't have go through this procedure?

 

One excuse I heard on the radio this morning (I occasionally listen to Tom Joyner) was that since she's been in Congress for over a decade, the security people should've known who she was (unless you think all black people look alike because you're a racist). Even Tom thought that argument was weak.

[Vampiro69 0]

It doesn't matter if she has been there for awhile. You should not piss off the people that are working to protect you.

[NoCalMike 0]

Sounds more like to me she thought she was "privelaged" because she was a congressman, and didn't have to abide by our petty procedures and/or deal with a petty security guard.

[Guest InuYasha]

[ebonics]Bitch be trippin' yo.[/ebonics]

 

Seriously, I think that she just thinks she's above all those "meaningless security measures".

[Art Sandusky 0]

She's not the other color, so police think they have the authority to kill a minority.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Cynthia is crazy! She constantly believes theres a conspiracy to remove her from office...

[The Czech Republic 0]

She's not the other color, so police think they have the authority to kill a minority.

What?

[Slayer 0]

There is a right time to be quoting NWA

 

This is not one of those times though

[SuperJerk 0]

Cynthia is crazy! She constantly believes theres a conspiracy to remove her from office...

Someone needs to tell her there's a conspiracy to remove every member of Congress from office. They're called elections.

 

I just hope her opponent is smart enough to capitalize on her opinion of security procedures, although (from the sounds of things) her constituents are not smart enough to not re-elect her. Anyone this thick-headed about the need for tight security in Washington D.C. as she seems to be really has no business having a say in national policy.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

She is sadly the by-product of a system that ensures that minority voters are able to elect their preferred candidate.

 

Sometimes, a really crazy nut-job makes it in a district like that, and they just cant be gotten rid of until they stop bringing home the goodies.

[theintensifier 0]

I live in Jacksonville, North Carolina. There is a huge mixture of different races. I don't often see any racial issues at all.

[SuperJerk 0]

She is sadly the by-product of a system that ensures that minority voters are able to elect their preferred candidate.

 

I'm not sure if you're arguing against gerrymandering or this silly "I only want to vote for someone just like me" mentality we seem to have in this country.

[Ripper 0]

Whoa now. Cynthia did get voted out a few years ago, then the lady that beat her retired or moved on to the Senate or something and Cynthia pretty much won on name recognition.

 

SJ is right though. She is some crazy bitch that claims everyone is out to get her. The fact that anyones time is wasted by her dumb ass having a press conference annoys me. The cop should have punched her back. That would have made for a better story for me.

 

In case you haven't noticed...I don't like Cynthia.

[The Czech Republic 0]

She is sadly the by-product of a system that ensures that minority voters are able to elect their preferred candidate.

 

I'm not sure if you're arguing against gerrymandering or this silly "I only want to vote for someone just like me" mentality we seem to have in this country.

I'm sure it's a little of both. The latter was a big part of Carol Moseley-Braun winning a Senate seat in IL: "I think we should have a black woman in the Senate."

[Stephen Joseph 0]

1) Both.

2) Crazy Bitch.

3) That's another Crazy Bitch.

4) Bitches be trippin yo

[theintensifier 0]

WASHINGTON - Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., expressed "sincere regret" Thursday for her altercation with a Capitol police officer, and offered an apology to the House.

 

"There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney said in brief remarks on the House floor. "I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize."

 

McKinney's comments came after the case had been referred to a federal grand jury for possible prosecution.

 

She had previously insisted she had done nothing wrong, and accused police of "racial profiling." She is African-American and the police officer is white.

 

McKinney, 51, has a history of confrontations with officers.

 

In this case, she entered a House office building without passing through the metal detector that screens visitors. Members of Congress are permitted to bypass the machines, but she was not wearing the pin that identified her as a House member at the time.

 

The officer, whose name has not been made public, has said he asked McKinney three times to stop. She did not.

 

Terrance Gainer, outgoing chief of the Capitol police force, has said that the officer placed a hand on her and she responded by hitting him. He said McKinney's race was not a factor.

 

The incident has embarrassed Democrats, including fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, none of whom have publicly defended her behavior in the March 29 incident.

 

Rep. Mel Watt, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, has had no statement on the incident. The caucus' silence stands in stark contrast to it's investigations of past scuffles between the U.S. Capitol Police and members.

 

One such probe occurred in 1990, when the caucus investigated whether Rep. Mickey Edwards, R-Okla. poked a black female Capitol Police officer and shouted curses at her, after she had denied entrance to an Edwards staffer who did not have House identification card with her.

 

A year later, the CBC investigated an incident in which a Capitol Police officer allegedly denied Rep. Louis Stokes, D-Ohio, entrance to the garage of the Rayburn House Office Building because the officer did not believe Stokes was a member.

 

McKinney's apology came after an eventful day in which two witnesses to the incident were subpoenaed by the grand jury and Gainer for the first time pubicly defended the officer involved. It was not clear which, if any, of her colleagues had urged McKinney to make the statement she did.

 

Republicans initially responded by advancing legislation to commend the Capitol police for their professionalism. Several GOP lawmakers sported pins expressing their support for the police.

 

It was unclear how much legal jeopardy McKinney confronted. A grand jury has subpoenaed two congressional aides who witnessed the confrontation.

 

Lisa Subrize, executive assistant to Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (news, bio, voting record), R-Mich., and Troy Phillips, senior legislative assistant to Rep. Sam Farr (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., notified Speaker Dennis Hastert late Wednesday, as is customary under House procedure.

 

"After consultation with the Office of General Counsel, I have determined that compliance with the subpoena is consistent with the precedents and privileges of the House," both aides said in statements that a clerk read into the House record.

 

Bob Jackson, a spokesman for McCotter, said that Subrize witnessed the confrontation and immediately filled out a form for the Capitol Police, describing what she saw.

 

He and a spokeswoman for Farr declined further comment.

 

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who on Tuesday abandoned his re-election bid under a cloud of ethics charges, weighed in on Wednesday, saying McKinney "is a racist."

 

"She has a long history of racism," DeLay, R-Texas, said on Fox News Channel. "Everything is racism with her. This is incredible arrogance that sometimes hits these members of Congress, but especially Cynthia McKinney."

 

On Wednesday, McKinney had charged anew that racism is behind what she said is a pattern of difficulty in clearing Hill security checkpoints, arguing that officers assigned to protect Congress members should recognize her, even without her congressional pin.

 

"This has become much ado about hairdo," she said Wednesday on CBS' "The Early Show." McKinney recently dropped her trademark cornrows in favor loose curls.

 

The incident in a House office building has caused a commotion on Capitol Hill, where security in the era of terrorist threat is tighter than ever and where authorities had to order an evacuation just Monday because of a power outage. Capitol Police have turned the McKinney case over to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Wainstein.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060406/ap_on_...ckinney_scuffle

[Guest The Satanic Angel]

I was watching O'Reilly last night and they were doing a recap show because O'Reilly was out, I think. I saw a clip of another Fox correspondant trying to interview McKinney and the woman wouldn't even let him get a word in edgewise. All you could understand was this correspondant repeatedly asking her to talk about the incident with Capitol Hill police and she was ranting and raving about something. Obviously, it had nothing to do with what happened, because the Fox guy tried so desperately to get her to talk about the present.

[SuperJerk 0]

The incident has embarrassed Democrats, including fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, none of whom have publicly defended her behavior in the March 29 incident.

 

"Bitches do be trippin'."

[Guest InuYasha]

The incident has embarrassed Democrats, including fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus, none of whom have publicly defended her behavior in the March 29 incident.

 

"Bitches do be trippin'."

I thought nothing could be funnier than Stephen Joseph's last post. I was wrong.

[SuperJerk 0]

I was just remembering how Chris Rock (in "Never Scared") said he thought black people who were lynched in the 1920s must've looked down on blacks being attacked by police in the 1960s and said, "Those niggas got it easy."

 

Take all the shit civil rights activitsts like John Lewis had to put up with in the 1960s, and compare it the "racism" faced by Rep. McKinney. Adam Clayton Powell wasn't even allowed to eat with the rest of the Congressmen, for Christ's sake.

 

Not that there still isn't racism, but there's a group of people nowadays that seem to want to scream "racism" for every little inconvenience they ever have to face

[Jingus 0]

She is sadly the by-product of a system that ensures that minority voters are able to elect their preferred candidate.

 

Sometimes, a really crazy nut-job makes it in a district like that, and they just cant be gotten rid of until they stop bringing home the goodies.

 

I don't think that minorities have a patent on that. Strom Thurmond comes to mind.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Strom's white dude

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Strom's white dude

 

Jingus is saying that white folk elect shit politicians too. That the system ensures that groups other than minorities are able to elect "their preferred candidate" as well.

 

I don't think that minorities have a patent on that.

[SuperJerk 0]

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.htm....walks.out.affl

 

I loves me the unintentional comedy.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

The thing with Thurmond though is that he changed with the times...he adjusted his views once he figured out he needed the black vote, so he was actually supported by both whites and blacks.

 

Not defending the guy, but that's the historical truth.

 

I hate how people like Jesse Jackson (a self-appointed "leader") scream racism about every little thing. If he's so concerned about bettering blacks in this country, maybe he could get them to better themselves through education and family values, and not blame whitey for every little problem.