Republican Congressman Christopher Shays Apologizes For Altercation With Capitol Policeman

[Ian David]

According to sources familiar with the event, the outburst began after Officer Randy Cooper informed a staff member that he could not bring a tour through a lower west front door that has restricted access.

One source said that after Cooper informed the staffer that the family could not enter through the door, the staffer called Shays and tried to have the officer speak with him. When the officer refused, Shays himself came down to the post and proceeded to "scream obscenities" at Cooper before touching his nametag to read it in the rain and storming away.



More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/07/20/congressman-apologizes-fo_n_57200.html



See also:


Shays screams at Capitol Police officer, later apologies

On Thursday afternoon, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) got into a loud, angry dispute with a U.S. Capitol Police officer at the security checkpoint inside the entrance of the West Side of the Capitol. On Friday, Shays, a veteran lawmaker, offered a public apology for the incident and said that he wants to meet with the officer personally to reiterate how sorry he is.

Shays reportedly grabbed the officer during the dispute over whether the officer should allow a group of tourists to enter the building, said several sources. Tourists are not allowed to use the West Front entrance, but Shays was trying to bring the group through that entrance anyway. The officer refused to allow them in, and Shays then "yelled and screamed" at the officer, including using profanity, the sources said.

Update - here's a Capitol Police report on the incident:

"On Thursday, July 19, 2007, a United States Capitol Police officer had an interaction with Congressman Christopher Shays on the West Front of the Capitol wherein the Congressman acted in a manner that was inappropriate.

"The officer took offense to the manner in which the Congressman spoke to him and said that the Congressman also reached out and touched his nametag.

The officer chose to handle the matter by filing a courtesy complaint against the Member. After personally meeting with the officer, Chief of Police Phillip D. Morse, Sr. and Assistant Chief of Police Dan Nichols discussed the matter with Congressman Shays who acknowledged he acted inappropriately in the heat of the moment and took full responsibility for his actions. The Congressman stated his full support and admiration for the officers of the U.S. Capitol Police and offered his apologies.

"Chief Morse fully supports the officer involved in this matter and commends the officer for properly following policy and procedure during this encounter."

The altercation brings to mind a 2006 incident with former Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), who struck a Capitol Police officer after he asked her for identification. A complaint was filed by the officer, but no formal charges were ever brought. McKinney failed to win re-election last November.


More:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0707/Shays_screams_at_Capitol_Police_officer_later_apologies.html


Also:

Was Cynthia McKinney Set Up?
By: jamie
On Tue Aug 1, 2006 at 08:38 pm

This is very interesting and should demand an immediate investigation:

Yet the black officers say that McKinney was targeted because she wrote a letter on behalf of their black officer's association demanding the ouster of the counsel of the Capitol Police, John Caulfield, for racist remarks and for contributing to and supporting a hostile environment in the police organization.

Capitol Hill police officers are trained to recognize all congresspeople, especially black congresspeople. Yet some white police officers repeatedly stopped black congresspeople like Cleo Fields of Louisiana for identification, whether or not they were wearing business suits or casual wear. The black officers witnessed these white policemen openly speaking of 'getting' McKinney, and celebrating vociferously when she was caught and the incident made news. As a result, McKinney is now facing charges brought by that same counsel, John Caulfield.

Check out Booman Tribune for links to the video and more.

More:
http://www.intoxination.net/node/3497



Also:

Shays Apologizes to Capitol Police Officer
http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002555773.html

[Cassandra]

1. Was he manhandled?

Will the press criticize his bald spot? Call him an hysterical man? Call for his arrest?
Move along...nothing to see here.

[Ian David]

7. Apparently, Shays actually sought out the conflict. n/t

[beaconess]

10. Considering he admitted he was wrong, apologized immediately and didn't accuse the officer of

bigotry, misogyny or participating in a vast conspiracy to undermine his reputation, probably not.

[Cassandra]

13. Did the officer assume Shays was a staffer?

Disrespect can be quite noticeable, even if you think it shouldn't matter.
I didn't much like McKinney but she had a long history of difficult relations, in both directions, with the Capitol police. What excuse does Shays have? If he were female, we'd be hearing about raging hormones. But he suddenly goes off the deep end and we're all supposed to go, "Oh, ok"?

[beaconess]

15. Who said, "Oh, ok?"

No one, as far as I can see, has excused Shay's behavior - the fact that it's being reported and that we're discussing it means that he hasn't gotten away with anything.

The difference, as I pointed out, is that Shays immediately admitted he was wrong and apologized. McKinney not only didn't admit wrongdoing or apologize, she went on the offensive, accused the officer whom she punched of all manner of evil and tried to blow up the matter into a major racial incident when it was likely nothing of the sort. And the fact that not one member of the Congressional Black Caucus took up her defense should have told us something about how out of line she was - unless we believe that Charlie Rangel, John Conyers, Maxine Waters, Bobby Rush, John Lewis, et al are either a crowd of idiots who aren't as knowledgeable or aware of racism as McKinney is or a bastion of fearful weaklings who don't have the temerity to stand up to wrongdoing.


Bottom line - Cynthia McKinney was stopped from bypassing the metal detectors by a Capitol Police Officer who did not recognize her. She got mad and punched him. Then she insisted that she was the victim of racism. As far as I know, she still has not apologized for her actions.

In Shays' case, a Capitol Police Officer refused to get on Shays' intern's cellphone to direct some constituents who were lost. Shays got mad and cussed him out. He apologized the same day and said he was out of line.

Night and day.

(and, by the way, the officer didn't assume that McKinney was a staffer. He assumed that she was not a Member of Congress, and thus, not entitled to enter the Capitol without going through the metal detector because she was not wearing her identification pin and he didn't recognize her as she breezed past him. Not disrespect - just doing his job. All she had to do was tell him who she was and the whole thing would have been over.)

[Joanne98]

2. Did he get forgiveness from his wife and Gawd yet?

[Bitwit1234]

3. Wonder if the press will give him the same treatment as

Cynthia McKinney. She slapped at the policeman who grabbed her because she didn't know who he was. Shays grabbed the policeman knowing full well who he was. Bet it does not get the play McKinney's did.

But then we know the reason....Shays is a republican and McKinney was a democrat and the republicans wanted her seat.

[NYCGirl]

5. If he calls a press conference accusing the Capitol Police with racism, perhaps

the press will give him the same treatment. But I doubt that will happen.

[beaconess]

12. Shays did what McKinney should have done

Contrary to what some here believe, Capitol Police officers stop members of Congress all the time. Sometimes because they don't recognize them, sometimes because they breezed past them so quickly, the officer didn't see who they were. This happens to white members, as well as black - I've seen it myself. Normally, the member just turns around and says, "I'm Senator so-and-so," to which the officer invariably responds, "Oh, I'm sorry Senator. Didn't recognize you" or "Excuse me Congresswoman, I didn't see your pin."

That's all Cynthia McKinney needed to do when the officer failed to recognize her after she rushed past the metal detectors, without wearing her pin, with a new hairdo very different from her highly-recognizable braids. "I'm Congresswoman McKinney" would have been more than enough to avoid any further confrontation - and would likely have elicited an apology on the spot. Punching the officer just wasn't the way to go.

I once saw a black Congresswoman stopped by an officer - another officer on duty immediately said, "that's Congresswoman xyz - she's good." The Congresswoman stopped and went over to the officer and in a good-natured, but slightly scolding way said, "You mean to tell me as often as I come through here, you still don't know who I am?" Whereupon, she held out her hand and said, "Well let me introduce myself - I'm Congresswoman xyz. What's your name?" He told her his name and she said, "Well now that we know each other, I bet you won't forget who I am from now on, will you?" "No, Ma'am," he said. And everytime she went past that checkpoint, she called out to him, "Who am I, Officer Joe?!" And he yelled back, "You're my favorite Congresswoman!" and they'd both crack up.

A lot better than punching him and accusing him of being a racist.

[Cassandra]

14. That would be my favorite congresswoman, too.

Whoever she is is blessed with grace and style under pressure. Not everyone has that and some only muster it from time to time. We've all had moments when we've looked back on some incident and realized we could have been, literally, disarming, and were instead defensive. It's all a matter of which buttons were pushed and whether you've been able to master your more difficult ones. Shays has always seemed, in public, a perfect gentleman, so for him to suddenly grab someone and start screaming is really more shocking.

[beaconess]

11. Please get your facts straight . . .

McKinney smacked a uniformed Capitol Police officer knowing full well who he was. The officer filed a complaint against her which was later dropped. Throughout and since, McKinney refused to apologize and accused the officer of racism. It got a lot of play largely because McKinney held several press conferences about it.

Shays cussed out a police officer. The officer filed a complaint against him. Shays immediately admitted he was wrong and apologized.

Different situations.

[MaineDem]

4. "McKinney failed to win re-election last November."

If only the same outcome awaits this incident. :thumbsup:

[wndycty]

6. White male Republican=misunderstanding; Black female Democrat=crime. . .

. . .enough said. :sarcasm:

[draft_mario_cuomo]

9. Exactly. The CMSM is pathetic nt

[beaconess]

16. I just don't agree

Cynthia McKinney was out of line and then tried to blame racism for her own bad behavior. As a black woman, I resent seeing black folk excuse bad behavior by screaming racism. Racism is real and prevalent and we must do everything we can to fight it at every turn. But we only undercut ourselves and our ability to fight the problem when people like McKinney use it as a shield to justify their own foolishness. I also am weary of white folk kneejerk jumping on the "she's black, she must be a victim of racism" bandwagon, without a clue as to whether racism was really involved.

As I said in another post, not one member of the Congressional Black Caucus defended McKinney or backed up her claim of racism. Shouldn't that tell you something.

Cynthia McKinney PUNCHED a police officer. Christopher Shays yelled at one. The former IS a crime, the latter not.

Sometimes black people behave badly. It happens.

[wndycty]

17. You make a valid point, however. . .

. . .the bias against McKinney was appalling, in the court of public opinion there was no objectivity. Quite frankly the details of the altercation soon became irrelevant, it was all about that the fact she had an altercation.

[beaconess]

18. I saw it differently

I think much of the negative reaction - including my own - was based on her insistence that this was a racial issue when it was nothing of the sort. This incident would have gone away as a one-day, halfway interesting news story had she not ginned it up into a major cause celebre - including holding a press conference to tell the world that the officer stopped her because she was a black female Member of Congress - a lot of crap. She punched a police officer whose job it is to protect her, her colleagues and people coming on their turf and then not only tried to make herself the victim, she did it in a very cynical and potentially explosive way, in my view - by trying to manipulate the very real problem of race to her advantage when race likely had nothing to do with it. As one who has devoted my life to fighting racial injustice, I abhor such tactics.

[Vickers]

8. 'proceeded to "scream obscenities"'

Aaaahhhhhhh, those wonderful Repuke values again...

"took full responsibility for his actions"

A phrase that means jackshit to this jackboot regime.