POLITICS
Rep. Jamaal Bowman Pleads Guilty To Falsely Pulling Fire Alarm In House Office Building
jamaalbowmanny/Instagram
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) pleaded guilty on Thursday to one misdemeanor count of falsely pulling a fire alarm in a Capitol Hill office building last month.
Bowman’s guilty plea in Washington, D.C., Superior Court comes as part of a deferred prosecution deal, in which he agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and write an apology letter to the U.S. Capitol Police chief. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the charge in three months provided Bowman breaks no other laws before then.
Falsely pulling a fire alarm carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail.
“I am responsible for activating a fire alarm, I will be paying the fine issued, and look forward to these charges being ultimately dropped, Bowman said in a statement Wednesday.
Bowman pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building on Sept. 30, as he was leaving the building on his way to vote with other lawmakers on a budget bill to avert a government shutdown.
I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door. I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused,” Bowman said in a statement at the time. He said the door was normally open during floor votes in the House, but would not open at the time.
In court on Thursday, prosecutors told Magistrate Judge Dorsey Jones that after Bowman pulled the alarm, he walked past several Capitol Police officers without informing them that he had pulled the alarm, and that there was not in fact any fire.
“I was in a rush to get to a vote to avoid a government shutdown,” Bowman told reporters after the hearing. He has repeatedly denied accusations from some Republicans that he pulled the alarm in an attempt to delay the vote in the House.
TMX contributed to this article.
