My Take: I don't see a problem with a security/police officer stopping ANYONE to ensure they are authorized to be at that location. I think she is an embarrassment to congress and should be removed. She also comes off as a raving lunatic.


Conspiracy Theorist Take: Targeted due to view points on 9/11


(CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney on Wednesday deflected questions about a confrontation with a police officer in a House office building, while the chief of the Capitol Police said the lawmaker should have avoided the incident.

McKinney, a Democrat from suburban Atlanta, didn't stop at an officer's request last week, then turned around and hit him after he reached out and grabbed her, said Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer.

"Even the high and the haughty" should be able to stop and identify themselves as members of Congress if confronted at a security checkpoint, Gainer said. "The response is not to hit a police officer."

Asked to describe what happened, McKinney, who has said the incident is about racial profiling, told CNN, "Let me first say this has become much ado about a hairdo." (Watch McKinney deflect questions -- 10:46)

McKinney, who for years wore her hair in cornrows, recently changed her hairstyle to loose spirals.

"Let me stop you there," CNN's Soledad O'Brien during an interview Wednesday on "American Morning."

"You can't stop me, Soledad. The real issue is face recognition and security around the Capitol complex," McKinney said.

O'Brien continued to press: "Somebody, anybody, lawyer, congresswoman ... just tell me what happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened," McKinney said. "In fact, over 250 black police officers have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Capitol Police Department."

"Forgive me for my lack of clarity," O'Brien said. "What happened that day, ma'am?"

Citing potential criminal charges against McKinney, one of her attorneys, Mike Raffauf, stepped in. "This is not going to be a place we rehash the facts of this incident," he said.

McKinney has said she was not wearing her lapel pin given to lawmakers when the officer stopped her.

The lawmaker said the identification pin is irrelevant.

"It doesn't have a face or a photo ID on it, and quite frankly it can be duplicated," she said.

Raffauf said: "We don't even know the allegations. We don't know what specifically she's accused of."

James Myart, another attorney for McKinney, has said she was "assaulted" and that her reaction to the officer was appropriate.

Gainer said McKinney has turned an officer's failure to recognize her into a criminal matter.

Capitol Police have completed an investigation and turned over results to federal prosecutors, who will decide whether to file charges against McKinney.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which cited officials familiar with the security camera video, McKinney was recorded entering the House office building but the confrontation was not caught on tape.

McKinney maintains racism is behind what she says is a pattern of difficulty getting past security checkpoints on Capitol Hill. She has charged that the altercation was "instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me, a female black congresswoman."

Gainer said race was not an issue, and he has seen officers stop and question white, black and Latino members of Congress.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who announced Tuesday he would not run for re-election amid an ethics scandal, said McKinney was showing her prejudice.

"Cynthia McKinney is a racist," DeLay told Fox News Channel, according to The Associated Press. "She has a long history of racism. Everything is racism with her. This is incredible arrogance that sometimes hits these members of Congress but especially Cynthia McKinney."

Asked Wednesday whether McKinney should resign, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, said, "Things have changed. We have set up things to make this place safer to try to protect against terrorists and we have to work with the Capitol Police to make that happen.

"This is not about personalities, it's not about somebody's ego, it's not about racial profiling. It's trying to make this place safer and working with the people that try to make it safer."

Two Republican members introduced a resolution Tuesday commending the Capitol Police for their "continued courage and professionalism." (Full story)

McKinney, 51, represents Georgia's 4th Congressional District, a majority-black, solidly Democratic district on the east side of metro Atlanta.

First elected in 1992, she was defeated in a 2002 Democratic primary after making controversial comments that included a claim the Bush administration was warned about the September 11, 2001, attacks but took no action.

McKinney made a comeback in 2004, winning her old seat after the candidate who had beaten her two years earlier, Denise Majette, decided to run for the U.S. Senate instead of seeking re-election.

Since returning to Washington, McKinney has kept a lower profile until last week's incident.

The dust-up over McKinney's altercation with the police officer comes three weeks before candidates in Georgia begin qualifying for the July 18 primary. The qualifying period is April 24-28.

McKinney has complained before of not being recognized as a member of Congress, both on Capitol Hill and at the White House. In 1998, she demanded and received an apology from the Clinton administration after White House guards stopped her.

Just because she is a public servant does not mean she is above the law.

i think they need to press felony charges on her. assualting an officer is a felony for all us normal folk. i enjoyed hearing neal bortz tear this chick up on the radio this morning.

Assault? Don't make me laugh. She hit the guy in the chest with her phone in the same hand. It must have been a tap, any harder, see would have risked breaking her phone.

Is it a coincidence that she was mentioned on CNN, by Alex Jones, as questioning the government on 9-11 and lo-and-behold, she is in trouble with the police within days.

This is why she is in trouble. Because she gives those criminals in congress a hard time.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9RvLL--vSsA

If you hit a police officer, what do you think would happen? Even if you faked a punch at one. Go and try it and come back here to tell us what happened. Now that she finds out there are witnesses, she apologizes.

That is still assult and she isn't above the law.

Still quite a coincidence though, eh? And CNN have dropped their 9-11 conspiracy stories, and people still don't want to believe there's a cover-up.

This has nothing to do with 9-11 conspiracy theories.
It has to do with a woman who plays the race card in childish fashion, thinks she as a "black congresswoman" (as if that's any different than a white or hispanic congresswoman) is entitled to some preferential treatment.

The fact is, she assaulted an officer, which should have got her handcuffed and locked up. Ask me, this imbecilic not-wit already got preferential treatment. If you don't think so, why don't you try not listening to a police officer when he tells you to stop, and then make any gesture against him whatsoever when he grabs you to stop you because you failed to listen to his instructions.

Alex Jones (almost) makes Cynthia McKinney look sane.