When Democrats someday retake they House, do they want a Republican pulling fire alarms to disrupt an important vote?
Seems so: Nearly all of them on Thursday voted against the resolution to censure Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) over his fire alarm-pull stunt back on Sept. 30, though the measure still passed, 214-191.
Bowman did it to disrupt the House vote on a measure to prevent a federal shutdown, something Democrats supposedly thought was important.
Yes, he still claims it was an accident. But security-camera video shows him removing two emergency-exit signs from the doors before pulling the alarm — and then running away.
Plus, as Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) noted, Bowman could’ve moved to “diffuse the situation” but “chose not to alert” Capitol Police officers, “showing a shameful disregard for public safety” — and his clear intent.
Without question, it was (as the censure motion put it) a “theatrical attempt to cause panic, therefore endangering the safety and well-being of Members of the House, of staff, and members of the public on the Capitol grounds.”
Fine: Democrat-friendly DC prosecutors opted not to charge him with the felony he plainly committed, but that’s no excuse for other House members ignoring the crime.
Only three Democrats — Reps. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Chris Pappas (D-NH) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) — voted for censure; another few (including Dems on the Ethics Committee, with an added duty to enforce standards) abstained by voting “present.”
It’s mainly other Bowman antics (voting against House resolutions on standing with Israel, condemning Hamas, calling for the release of all hostages and denouncing antisemitism on college and university campuses) that have earned him a primary challenge next year from Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
But this penalty should’ve had universal support in the House; instead, the vote proved again how little modern Democrats actually care about democracy.