U. S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said Wednesday that Rep. Cynthia McKinney turned an officer's failure to recognize her into a criminal matter when she failed to stop at his request, and then struck him.
"He reached out and grabbed her and she turned around and hit him," Gainer said on CNN. "Even the high and the haughty should be able to stop and say, 'I'm a congressman' and then everybody moves on."
For her part, McKinney wasn't backing down from the argument. She charged anew that racism is behind what she said is a pattern of difficulty in clearing Hill security checkpoints.
Gainer said that racism, however, was not a factor.
"I've seen our officers stop white members and black members, Latinos, male and females," he told CNN. "It's not an issue about what your race or gender is. It's an issue about making sure people who come into our building are recognized if they're not going through the magnetometer, and this officer at that moment didn't recognize her."
"It would have been real easy, as most members of Congress do, to say here's who I am or do you know who I am?" Gainer added.
Police also have said that McKinney was failing to wear a pin that lawmakers are asked to display when entering Capitol facilities.
But she said Wednesday: "Face recognition is the issue .... The pin doesn't have my name on it and it doesn't have my picture on it, and so security should not be based on a pin ... People are focused on my hairdo."
The Georgia Democrat, appearing on CBS's "The Early Show" Wednesday, recently dropped her trademark cornrows in favor of a curly brown afro.
"Something that perhaps the average American just doesn't understand is that there is a heightened sense of a lack of appropriateness being there for members who are elected who happen to be of color," McKinney said, "and until this issue is addressed by the American public in a very substantive way, it won't be the last time."
McKinney has garnered little support among fellow Democrats in her feud with the Capitol police. No one in her party chose to join her at a news conference last Friday to discuss the situation, and the event was canceled.
As a federal prosecutor considers whether to press assault or other charges against her, Republicans presented a resolution commending Capitol police for professionalism toward members of Congress and visitors _ even though they "endure physical and verbal assaults in some extreme cases."
"I don't think it's fair to attack the Capitol Police and I think it's time that we show our support for them," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R- N.C., a sponsor of the measure. Ignoring a police officer's order to stop, or hitting one, "is never OK," McHenry said.
Some GOP members have said the McKinney incident serves to underscore Democratic insensitivity to security concerns.
2 comments:
I propose a note to this "young" congresswoman, so she can get in touch with what the people are thinking and saying:
To our esteemed elected official who is paid by our tax dollars:
As we watch your dance-and-weave interview, where you chose to read a statement instead of answering questions, we get the impression that you know well that you made a bad judgment call (which we can forgive), but decided to heighten it by creating a racial firestorm.
Well:
1. Face recognition is not a premise for security-it is one of many premises for access. For security, face recognition is not always sufficient for acces. If you aren't recognized, your pin (which you refuse to use) serves as an alternative form of identification.
2. Your refusal to wear the pin exhibits arrogance, and possibly, entrapment. You may well have set the police up to confront you, so you can legitimately cry "victim" of racial profiling.
3. While your attorney may think this "ado about hairdo" is a larger issue, the public can see just what is larger than the "ado about hairdo." It's your EGO.
4. Capitol Police are screening 30,000 people each day. They are following proper procedure by stopping anyone that may pose a threat, don't follow entry procedures, or aren't identified properly. Why can't you help them do their job by complying with security measures like everyone else? Or do you think you're way above it all, and expect the police to be at your beck-and-call like Isaac Hayes?
5. You KNOW you made a mistake, and want to deflect your bad judgment onto the Capitol police. As you scream racism and profiling repeatedly, you essentially profile yourself as one of those people who cannot get past race, and use it as a crutch to justify your "I'm a victim-always a victim" claims.
People arent' stupid, and can see past the juvenile denials by a woman who was just shown for who she really is. Stop insulting other upstanding minorities by hiding behind race. Stop hiding behind discrimination. Stop throwing what should be your responsibility to identify yourself to the Capitol Police. Stop making this bigger than your narcissistic ego and bad hairdo. Stop being an embarrassment to your race, your gender, your party, and your elected office.
The Capitol police are there to secure the premises, to identify, verify and provide access to those with appropriate identification. YOUR job is to provide means of identification.
On top of all this, you undeniably attacked a Capitol Police when you were stopped. You must face the consequences of your lack of discretion based on your great perception of yourself.
All you are trying to prove is that anyone, especially a black woman (since you made it about race), can strike a policeman, scream "racism," and not be accountable for infractions. Way to go, Congresswoman. Fine example you are trying to be to all your beloved constituents, and the rest of America.
We certainly won't forget YOU now, especially during elections.
Very well said, Lady.
Police officers jobs are to serve and protect, not act as butlers.
Isn't it curious that while McKinney has found the time to appear on virtually every station to allege racial profiling, in 12 years in Congress, she never made an allegation before.
I'd also like to hear her explain why she did not recognize the officer, he could afterall, take a bullet protecting her someday. Just seems like good manners!
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