Rep. Jamaal Bowman criminally charged for pulling fire alarm in House building

Rep Jamaal Bowman briefly faced a misdemeanor criminal charge that could have seen him spend six months in jail for pulling the fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building on Sept. 30.

Bowman quickly reached an agreement to avoid the charge by agreeing to pay a $1,000 fine and formally apologize for what he did.

“I am responsible for activating a fire alarm, I will be paying the fine issued, and look forward to these charges being ultimately dropped,” a Bowman statement read.

Republicans have drafted a motion to expel Bowman from the House, or he could be censured instead.

A two-thirds vote is needed to expel a member of Congress, while only a majority is needed to censure. This makes censure more likely unless Bowman angered a considerable number of his own party's members along with the opposition.

Either way, it's good to see him held accountable in some way for what he did.