Rep. Owens compares congressman pulling fire alarm to Jan. 6

Rep. Burgess Owens said the actions of a House Democratic lawmaker who pulled a fire alarm shortly before Saturday’s vote to avoid a shutdown were “exactly the same” as those of Jan. 6 protesters.

Owens, who represents Utah’s 4th District, made the comments in reference to Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who was caught on camera setting off a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building less than an hour before the House passed a continuing resolution to keep government agencies funded through mid-October.

“He pulled that lever on purpose to slow down our votes because they were trying to make sure that we did not win this last round,” Owens told the Deseret News Monday. “He should pay the same exact price that he’s been OK with everybody else paying.”

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Bowman has denied that his intention was to obstruct an official proceeding of Congress.

“I was just trying to get to my vote. The door thatʼs usually open wasn’t open. I didnʼt mean to cause confusion. I didnʼt know it was going to trip the whole building. I thought (the alarm) would help me open the door,” he said Saturday, according to a document given to fellow House Democrats containing talking points in defense of Bowman.

Bowman’s explanation for how he failed to understand multiple warning signs placed on the doors has been met by skepticism from politicians and pundits from across the political spectrum, including many familiar with Capitol Hill.

“Does anyone believe the ‘I thought the fire alarm would open the door’ line?” Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee asked Saturday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Owens posted his response to the debacle only half an hour after the fire alarm caused the Cannon Building to be evacuated.

“This socialist should be charged with the crime of attempting to obstruct an official proceeding, if reports are true. LOCK HIM UP!” the post on X said.

In an interview with the Deseret News, Owens said Bowman’s actions were just the latest in a long history of controversial behavior on the Hill.

“They’ve been getting away with this immature theatrics for a long time. And this Congressman has been at the very lead of that,” Owens said.

Bowman made news in March when he engaged in a yelling match with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in the halls of Congress over gun control.

Owens says Bowman’s decision to pull the fire alarm was a deliberate attempt to obstruct the House’s upcoming vote on a short-term funding bill and should receive the same scrutiny under the law as the actions of Jan. 6 protestors.

“What he’s done is exactly the same thing,” Owens said. “He should pay the same exact price that he’s been OK with everybody else paying. There should be no one above the law.”

Owens said Capitol law enforcement must treat this case similar to the rioters who breached the Capitol over two years ago so that Americans feel that partisans are treated fairly on both sides.

Over 1,000 individuals have been charged in connection with the riot that engulfed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Charges have ranged from assaulting law enforcement officers to remaining on restricted federal property and “corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, or attempting to do so.”

Some of the riot’s organizers have been convicted of “seditious conspiracy,” with jail times ranging from 10 to 20 years.

Bowman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is the former principal of the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in the Bronx. Owens said this background should have made Bowman particularly aware of the dangers of pulling a fire alarm in a public space without cause.

The New York representative received renewed criticism after it came to light that his list of talking points circulated among House Democrats included a suggestion that Bowman’s defenders tell Republicans to “focus their energy on the Nazi members of their party before anything else.”

Bowman issued a statement Monday condemning his own staff for the “inappropriate use of the term Nazi without my consent.”

Multiple House Republicans, including Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., have proposed expelling Bowman from Congress. Such an action would require a two-thirds vote in the House — a near impossibility in an evenly split chamber.

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has called on the Department of Justice to prosecute Bowman under the same law they have used against Jan. 6 defendants.

Bowman is currently under investigation by the Capitol Police.