Rep. Bowman Issued Criminal Summons For Pulling Fire Alarm

Democratic lawmaker Rep. Jamaal Bowman was issued a criminal summons by the DC Superior Court, after he was caught on CCTV pulling the fire alarm in the House office building on Oct. 1 while Democrats were trying to delay a House vote on the stopgap bill (which eventually passed at the 11th hour).

Bowman - who founded a school that would have held several fire drills per year, wants us to believe he mistook this fire alarm...

...for an automatic door opener that he was trying to use to open a clearly marked emergency exit.

Bowman wanted us to believe that he "came to a door that is usually open for votes but today would not open," and that he's "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."

And now, Bowman has to appear before the court on Oct. 26 at 9:30 a.m. on the charge of a "fire false alarm."

In response, Bowman said on Wednesday: "I’m thankful for the quick resolution from the District of Columbia Attorney General’s office on this issue and grateful that the United States Capitol Police General Counsel’s office agreed I did not obstruct nor intend to obstruct any House vote or proceedings," adding "I am responsible for activating a fire alarm, I will be paying the fine issued, and look forward to these charges being ultimately dropped. I think we all know that Republicans will attempt to use this to distract everyone from their mess."

As the Epoch Times noted at the time; The fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building, often called the "Old House Office Building," was triggered around noon, leading to an evacuation of the entire building while the House was in session. The building was reopened an hour later, after Capitol Police determined the situation was not a threat.

Capitol Police said in a statement late Saturday that an “investigation into what happened and why continues.”

The fire alarms in the Old House Office Building are pull down triggers encased in bright red boxes that read "FIRE."

At the time of the evacuation, Democrat lawmakers in the House were working to delay a vote on a 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open. They said they needed time to review the 71-page bill that Republicans had just released to avoid a shutdown.

'The law for thee, but not for me...'