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Report: McKinney case to go before grand jury

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury will soon begin hearing evidence about Rep. Cynthia McKinney's run-in with a Capitol Police officer, the Associated Press reported late Wednesday.

The news service, which did not name its source, reported that federal prosecutors had agreed to get involved in the case in which a black lawmaker is accused of striking a white officer after he tried to stop her from entering a House office building without going through a security checkpoint.

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said McKinney turned the officer's failure to recognize her into a criminal matter when she failed to stop at his request, and then struck him.

"He reached out and grabbed her and she turned around and hit him," Gainer said on CNN. "Even the high and the haughty should be able to stop and say, "I'm a congressman' and then everybody moves on."

"This is not about personality," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "It's not about racial profiling. It's about making this place safer."

McKinney continued to say racism is behind what she said is a pattern of difficulty in clearing Hill security checkpoints.

"This has become much ado about hairdo," she said Wednesday on CBS's The Early Show. McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, recently dropped her trademark cornrows in favor of a more curly look.

Last Wednesday's incident in a House office building has caused a commotion on Capitol Hill, where security in the era of terrorist threat is tighter than ever and where authorities had to order an evacuation just Monday because of a power outage.

Capitol Police have turned the case over to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Wainstein, who must decide whether to clear the way for any charges against McKinney. An official in his office said no announcement was expected Wednesday.

McKinney has garnered little support among fellow Democrats in her feud with the Capitol police. No one in her party chose to join her at a news conference last Friday to discuss the situation.

Republicans, meanwhile, presented a resolution commending Capitol Police for professionalism toward members of Congress and visitors - even though they "endure physical and verbal assaults in some extreme cases."

"I don't think it's fair to attack the Capitol Police, and I think it's time that we show our support for them," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a sponsor of the measure. Ignoring a police officer's order to stop, or hitting one, "is never okay," McHenry said.

Some GOP members have said the McKinney incident serves to underscore Democratic insensitivity to security concerns.

Gainer said that racism, however, was not a factor.

"I've seen our officers stop white members and black members, Latinos, male and females," he said on CNN. "It's not an issue about what your race or gender is. It's an issue about making sure people who come into our building are recognized if they're not going through the magnetometer, and this officer at that moment didn't recognize her.

"It would have been real easy, as most members of Congress do, to say here's who I am or do you know who I am?" Gainer said.

Police say McKinney wasn't wearing a pin that lawmakers are asked to display when entering Capitol facilities.

[Last modified April 6, 2006, 02:00:13]