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His excuses are going up in smoke.
Images of the fire alarm that Rep. Jamaal Bowman pulled in a House office building as his fellow Democrats were trying to delay a key vote to fund the government appear to throw cold water on his claims that the move was just a boneheaded mistake.
The bright red alarm is clearly marked with the word “FIRE” — and is right next to two signs that provide explicit details on how to open the emergency door at the Cannon House Office Building, photos show.
“Emergency Exit Only!” the signs read. “Push until alarm sounds (3 seconds). Door will unlock in 30 seconds.”
The strident socialist New York lawmaker, whose gaffe was caught on surveillance video, simply needed to turn his head to the right to see the glaring signs.
But Bowman claimed he thought pulling the alarm would open the door.
“Today, as I was rushing to make a vote, I came to a door that is usually open for votes but today would not open,” Bowman said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door. I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused.”
Sarah Iddrissu, his chief of staff, added in a statement on social media, “Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote.”
But many lawmakers and political observers weren’t buying it — with a growing chorus of Republicans on Sunday accusing Bowman of pulling the alarm as a tactic to delay the House vote on a GOP stopgap spending bill.
“This is not confusing at all,” former Congressman Justin Amash (R-Mich.) wrote on X. “There’s a push bar on the door below the sign. Members of Congress see these signs all the time and know exactly what they mean.
“I can’t even imagine thinking it has something to do with a fire alarm pull on the wall,” Amash added. “Stop excusing his recklessness.”
The wild fire-alarm incident, which triggered an evacuation of the Cannon Building around noon Saturday, took place as Democrats were scrambling over the GOP’s last-minute offer to avert a government shutdown.
Some Bowman critics, including former President Donald Trump, said he should be arrested and charged for allegedly trying to obstruct an official government proceeding.
“Will Congressman [Jamaal] Bowman be prosecuted and imprisoned for very dangerously pulling and setting off the main fire alarm system in order to stop a Congressional vote that was going on in D.C.,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“It was a very dangerous ‘Obstruction of an Official Proceeding,’ the same as used against our J-6 prisoners. Actually, his act may have been worse,’’ the ex-prez said, referencing the riot of Jan. 6, 2021.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) conveyed a similar sentiment — also bringing up the defendants charged with trying to stop the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory during the rioting at the US Capitol — when calling out Bowman.
“Jamaal Bowman must be treated exactly the same as Jan 6 defendants. He was a school principal,” Greene posted on X.
“He knows exactly what pulling a fire alarm means. He did it while the Dems were trying to stall for time for the Senate and the Dem whip had just called for a motion to adjourn.”
Obstructing an official government proceeding is illegal under federal law punishable by fines and “not more than 20 years.”
Bowman on Saturday insisted to reporters that he wasn’t trying to stall anything — and just goofed.
“I was rushing to make a vote. I was trying to get through the door,” he said. “I thought the alarm would open the door. I didn’t mean to cause confusion.
