Rep. Bowman will not face House Ethics investigation for pulling fire alarm

In September, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) generated mountains of controversy after he pulled a fire alarm in the U.S. Capitol during a critical vote on a spending bill.

After initially denying his actions, even though video proved otherwise, Bowman eventually struck a deal and pleaded guilty to a charge associated with falsely pulling a fire alarm and was thought to eventually face reprimands within the lower chamber.

According to Breitbart, that doesn't seem to be the case after the House Ethics Committee declined to open an investigation into the matter.

BREAKING: The House Ethics Committee just voted against opening an investigation into Rep. Jamaal Bowman for pulling the fire alarm.

No DOJ charge for "obstructing an official proceeding" for Bowman or investigation from House Ethics.

Just one misdemeanor. pic.twitter.com/Z4AEAAN14z

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 22, 2023

Breitbart noted:

The New York lawmaker faced six months jail time, but in a plea deal he agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and write an apology to Capitol Police. After three months of probation, the charge will be withdrawn.

In a recent press release, the Ethics Committee, which had 30 days from the time a member is criminally charged to decide whether or not to open a case, revealed that it would not take further action in the matter.

The statement read:

"Pursuant to Committee Rule 10(a), establishment of an ISC and a report to the House regarding the conduct of a Member both require an affirmative vote of a majority of the Members of the Committee.  A majority of the Members of the Committee did not agree to establish an ISC or report to the House regarding Representative Bowman’s conduct."

In the wake of the embarrassing incident, Bowman finally admitted that he knew he broke Washington, D.C. law in pulling the alarm but denied that he did it to delay a critical vote at the time.

Breitbart, which helped uncover new evidence in the case initially, reported:

Bowman claimed he pulled the fire alarm because he was trying to open emergency doors in order to go vote. However, Breitbart News first broke the news that Bowman threw emergency warning signs to the floor before pulling the alarm, running down a set of stairs, and exiting the building from another floor, contradicting his claims.

The decision to not move forward with a House Ethics investigation angered many on social media, who pointed out the double standard for actions taken by Democrats vs. Republicans.

"No D.C. gulag for a Democrat? Color me shocked," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "They should open an investigation into the Capitol police for (a) hiding the video of bowman removing the warning signs on the door before pulling the alarm, until after the plea deal was signed and (b) failing to state in their arrest warrant that he removed the signs."

Many pointed out that had a Republican committed the same crime, an investigation likely would have been opened immediately.