Throw the Book at Her
Opinion Journal

A federal grand jury is now considering whether to charge Cynthia McKinney with assault for last week's incident in which she breached Capitol security and then allegedly struck a policeman. Facing the possibility of criminal charges, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, she "apologized for her role" in the incident. But in fact if the AJC's quotes are accurate, she did no such thing:

"There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney, surrounded by a handful of lawmakers, said.

"I am sorry this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize," McKinney said, drawing applause from the partially-filled chamber.

"There should not have been any physical contact . . . this misunderstanding happened . . . I regret its escalation." It does not appear that she expressed any remorse whatever for her actions. What's more, the paper suggests that an employee of hers then proceeded to impersonate a policeman:

Even as McKinney appeared to be trying to put the issue to rest, a bodyguard she hired--reportedly a former Georgia state trooper--was raising another furor when he threatened a television reporter trying to interview McKinney outside the Capitol just minutes before she appeared on the House floor.

When the reporter from Cox Broadcasting tried to ask McKinney about the grand jury, the bodyguard told him, "I'm going to put your ass in jail. I'm a police officer," a videotape of the incident shows.

Asked if he worked for Capitol police, the man said, "I work for Miss McKinney."