Nutjob Cynthia McKinney

I just listened to Congressman Tom Delay talking with Rush Limbaugh.  Delay reminded me of the story of the two Capitol Police Officers who were killed by Russell Weston on July 24, 1998.  The officers were shot by Weston after he barged through a staff entrance to the Capitol.  Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson were both 18 year veterans of the Capitol Police force.  Gibson was serving on the private security detail of Congressman Delay, who was the Republican Whip at the time of the murders.  I will link to Rush's interview when it's posted later, but suffice to say, Congressman Delay describes Mr. Gibson positioning himself to protect Delay's staffers, while exposing himself to fire from the gunman.  It cost Mr. Gibson his life.

I found this account of the attack on the web here-

Witnesses said panic broke out after the gunman stormed through the Document Door entrance usually reserved for lawmakers and their staff at 1540 EDT. The gunman entered the building but walked around the metal detector just inside the entrance. According to several sources, Chestnut asked him to go back through the detector but was shot in the chest with a .38-caliber handgun. Witnesses said he turned down a short corridor and pushed through a door marked "Do Not Enter" which leads to a group of offices used by senior Republican representatives.

Once inside he was confronted by Gibson who had already shouted to nearby staffers to take cover. Shots were fired over the head of a 20-year-old DeLay staffer. The two men traded shots and both fell wounded. Another officer who ran to the scene straddled the bleeding gunman, pointing his weapon at him.

Sound familiar?  Here is an news account of Nutjob McKinney's fracas with the Capitol Police last week-

McKinney and an unidentified Capitol Police officer got into a confrontation last Wednesday afternoon at a security checkpoint at the entrance to a House office building, as she was going around a metal detector

....snip....

Members of Congress are allowed to bypass metal detectors. But McKinney, by her own admission, was not wearing a pin that identifies her as a member of Congress, and the officer told her to stop.

There are 535 members of Congress, and several thousand Capitol Police officers.  It is unrealistic and unreasonable to expect every police officer to be able to instantly recognize every member of Congress.  That's why they issued you a pin for identification Congresswoman McKinney.

People actually elected this nutjob to help craft the laws of the United States?  I hope the citizens of Georgia's 4th CD are proud. 

LATER (April 10, 2006 1:20p EDT):  An interesting look at this issue from the eyes of an LAPD officer who writes for NRO.