U.S. Capitol - Chestertown Spy

The United States Capitol Police have opened an investigation into an incident involving Rep. Andrew P. Harris (R-Md.), following reports he entered the U.S. Capitol with a firearm.

HuffPost reported that Harris set off newly installed metal detectors outside the House chamber on Thursday and was stopped by Capitol Police.

One officer motioned to another to indicate that the First District lawmaker had a weapon hidden inside his suit coat, the site reported.

A journalist who witnessed the encounter reported that Harris tried to offload the weapon to a nearby colleague, Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), but Katko refused to take it, telling Harris he didn’t have “a license.”

HuffPost also heard Harris complain to some fellow members that he had asked his staff to remind him about the screenings and they hadn’t.

Harris then left on the elevators and 10 minutes later returned to the House chamber, the site reported. He placed his cellphone and keys on a desk to the side, did not set off the magnetometer and was allowed to enter the House floor.

In an email on Thursday night, U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki told Maryland Matters, “The USCP is investigating the matter.”

NBC News reported on Thursday that a “Capitol official” who was present “saw a firearm on the person of Rep. Harris and relayed that to his superiors.”

“To be clear, Rep. Harris did not enter the Floor,” the official said.

The metal detectors outside the chamber were ordered put in place by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) after the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. They have become a flashpoint among some Republican members, and they have at times created tension with police.

Harris’ communications team frequently does not respond to requests for comment from reporters and they did not respond to an email from Maryland Matters on Thursday night. But they did release a statement to Fox 45 News in Baltimore, which said:

“Because his and his family’s lives have been threatened by someone who has been released awaiting trial, for security reasons, the Congressman never confirms whether he nor anyone else he’s with are carrying a firearm for self-defense. As a matter of public record, he has a Maryland Handgun Permit. And the congressman always complies with the House metal detectors and wanding. The Congressman has never carried a firearm on the House floor.”

Despite the District of Columbia’s strict gun laws, members of Congress are allowed to carry unloaded weapons in congressional office buildings and on the Capitol grounds, but not in the chamber.

Several GOP members have boasted of carrying weapons wherever they go, prompting calls from Democratic lawmakers for metal detectors to be installed outside the chamber.

Pelosi is reportedly considering fines for members who bypass security checkpoints inside the Capitol.

HuffPost reported on Thursday that Harris “has repeatedly flouted the magnetometers that were installed near the House chamber after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.”

The incident involving the six-term lawmaker came two weeks after thousands of supporters of former President Trump stormed the Capitol in an attempt to block the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

The siege forced members of the Senate and House and Vice President Mike Pence to flee into secure locations. Five people died in the uprising, including a Capitol police officer.

The attempted coup led to the second impeachment of Trump and an unprecedented increase in security around the building.

Harris is a loyal supporter of President Trump who has spoken frequently about his fear that the government will try to strip citizens of their guns. He is the only Republican in the state’s congressional delegation and has received campaign contributions from the NRA.

Harris was one of nearly 150 GOP lawmakers to vote to block Biden’s win, even after the attempted insurrection. When lawmakers returned to the House chamber to resume their work in the overnight hours of Jan. 7, Harris got into a scuffle on the House floor with Rep. Colin Alred (D-Texas).

Harris’s baseless claims that Biden’s win was marred by fraud has been condemned by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) and led to numerous calls for his resignation.

By Bruce DePuyt

Maryland police have been deployed to Washington, D.C., in an effort to restore order after an armed mob stormed the U.S. Capitol Wednesday as Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) tweeted around 3:45 p.m. that the Maryland State Police would deploy troopers to the capital and that the Maryland National Guard’s adjutant general is calling up a rapid response force to assist.

“All Americans should be outraged by this attack on our nation’s Capitol,” Hogan said in a statement. “This is a heinous and violent assault on the heart of our democracy. I will not stand for this, and neither should any American.”

Montgomery County Police teams were also on the Capitol grounds Wednesday afternoon.

Shortly after the Congress began the process to certify the results of the November 2020 election, the Capitol building was breached and lawmakers were evacuated to safer locations.

Hours earlier, President Trump addressed supporters at an outdoor rally and encouraged them to march to the U.S. Capitol.

His actions and rhetoric were condemned by Maryland lawmakers.

“This is a very sad day for our country,” Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D) tweeted. “Mr. President, tell your supporters to stand down before someone gets seriously hurt.”

Earlier in the day, Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D) had spoken on the House floor against objections to certify the election results from Arizona.

“There were repeated efforts to barrel into the Capitol chamber,” Raskin said on CSPAN.

After the death of his son on New Year’s Eve, Raskin, a Constitutional law scholar, said he’d brought his daughter and son-in-law to D.C. with him on Wednesday to be together and witness “the peaceful transfer of power in the United States of America.”

“So what was really going through my mind was their safety because they were not with me in the chamber. And I just wanted to make sure that we could get back together,” Raskin said.

In the hours after the attack on the Capitol, Raskin said lawmakers were devoted to concluding the Electoral College vote count.

“Every single member I’ve spoken to is absolutely determined to have us complete the counting of the Electoral College votes as is demanded of us by the 12th Amendment of the Constitution. And everyone is absolutely determined that we will continue with the normal proceedings of the U.S. Congress and that any violent insurrection against the government of the United States will be put down and our Constitutional democracy will prevail,” he said.

“…We are going to go forward. If we’ve got to stay here all night, we’re going to go forward. If we’ve got to stay here all day tomorrow we’re going to go forward. And the next day,” Raskin said. “We are going to complete the counting of the Electoral College votes. We are going to swear in the new president of the United States.”

PBS News’ Lisa Desjardins reported late Wednesday afternoon that House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D) was in a safe location, as well as many other members of Congress.

The Capital Gazette reported that a spokesman confirmed Rep. John Sarbanes was safe.

The Maryland congressional delegation’s lone Republican, Rep. Andrew P. Harris, had joined efforts to object to the Electoral College certification. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the only way he’d publicly addressed the attack on social media was by retweeting Trump’s statements.

Hours after the storming of the Capitol commenced, Trump issued a video telling the protesters, “We love you.” But — after reiterating his baseless claims that the election was stolen from him — Trump urged calm.

“Go home, we love you, you’re very special,” he said.

At 4 p.m., Biden said the demonstrators’ actions bordered on sedition.

By Danielle E. Gaines

U.S. Capitol Police Investigating Handgun Incident Involving Rep. Harris

Md. Police Head to D.C. as Armed Mob Storms U.S. Capitol

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