The director of staff for Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman has verified that the congressman pulled a fire alarm at a congressional office building on Saturday. Bowman is a member of the House of Representatives. The event took place on the same afternoon that a vote was being held on a stopgap budget package to prevent a shutdown of the federal government.
Bowman stated that the reason he pulled the alarm was because he believed it would unlock a door, and he was hurrying to make an urgent vote as a result of his actions. On the other hand, the event caused an evacuation and led to an investigation by a committee in the House of Representatives’ administration.
Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker of the House, described the occurrence as “serious” and asked for an inquiry to be conducted. Other members of Congress have voiced their disapproval of Bowman’s behavior, and some of them have even suggested that he should think about leaving from Congress if he was involved in activating the alert.
The event contributed to the mayhem that was already present on Capitol Hill as members rushed to finalize the budget package before the deadline for the government shutdown.