Rep. Christopher Shays has confrontation with Capitol Hill police officer

I’m back a little early – couldn’t resist blogging about this one.

No doubt the left will be all over this soon enough:

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.”

Contrast Shays apology and acceptance of full responsibility for the incident with Cynthia McKinney’s non-apology apology after an incident she had with a Capitol Hill police officer last year in which she punched him and you have a classic example of the difference between looking like a petulant child unable to take responsibility for their childish actions, and an adult acknowledging personal responsibility and owning up to their mistakes. In essence the difference between what Democrats teach versus Republicans.

Don Surber has Shays statement posted on his site, and also has a suggestion for what Shays’ punishment should be:

Either there is something way more to this than either side is letting on, or Capitol police officers are pansies. I sentence Congressman Shays to 30 days of late-night comedian jokes.

Moral of the story: When you’re wrong, just admit it. Otherwise, you only compound the problem and make yourself look worse in the public’s eyes. Unless, of course, you’re a Democrat who can get away with pretty much anything..

Comments are closed.