The U.S. Capitol Police were told to arrest visitors and staff who refuse to wear masks and subsequently defy orders to mask up or leave the premises after the House reinstated its face-covering mandate.
Earlier in the day, at the direction of Brian Monahan, the Capitol’s attending physician, the chamber issued a memo indicating that masks would be required once again after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said individuals should don face coverings in a number of situations, regardless of vaccination status. If lawmakers violate the new policy, they are to be reported to the sergeant-at-arms, though visitors and staff were not granted the same luxury.
“If a visitor or staff member fails to wear a mask after a request is made to do so, the visitor or staff member shall be denied entry to the House Office Buildings or the House-side of the Capitol. Any person who fails to comply with or leave the premises after being asked to do so would be subject to arrest for Unlawful Entry,” a bulletin from the Capitol Police, which was posted to social media on Thursday by Florida Rep. Kat Cammack, read.
HOUSE REIMPOSES MASK MANDATE AFTER CDC ISSUES NEW GUIDANCE
Monahan’s guidance also said that lawmakers who violate the policy may be fined.
The Capitol Police has contended that there is “no reason” for arrests to be made for those who opt not to follow the rules.
“Regarding the House rules about masks, there is no reason it should ever come to someone being arrested,” a spokesperson for the law enforcement body told the Washington Examiner in an email. “Anyone who does not follow the rules will be asked to wear a mask or leave the premises. The Department’s requirement for officers to wear masks is for their health and safety.”
However,Cammack, a Republican, faulted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for what she called an “abuse of power.”
“In today’s edition of Pelosi’s abuse of power, Capitol Police have been directed to arrest staff and visitors to comply with her mask mandate for vaccinated individuals,” she wrote in a tweet. “For Members, they advise not arresting but ‘reporting Members to SAA for their failure to comply.'”
In today’s edition of Pelosi’s abuse of power, Capitol Police have been directed to arrest staff and visitors to comply with her mask mandate for vaccinated individuals.
For Members, they advise not arresting but “reporting Members to SAA for their failure to comply.”
1/2 pic.twitter.com/MtgGUndSIO
— Congresswoman Kat Cammack (@RepKatCammack) July 29, 2021
Cammack later said the bulletin was leaked by an unnamed officer within the force, according to Fox News. The Sunshine State Republican has vowed not to comply with the new mandate.
“I cannot comply with this tyrannical order,” she said. “This is the people’s house, not Nancy Pelosi’s house.”
Other GOP lawmakers have expressed disdain toward the development as Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise took to Twitter to bash Pelosi.
“To be clear: Pelosi is directing police to ARREST vaccinated people who aren’t wearing masks,” he wrote. “This isn’t about science — it’s about power and control.”
During a press conference, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy clarified that the mandate would apply only to the House side of the Capitol, not the Senate, alluding to the possibility of confusion among passersby.
“If you are a Capitol Police officer, you got orders,” he said. “You work at some parts during the day on House side and some parts on the Senate. If a vaccinated staffer comes across on the House side without a mask you’re ordered to arrest them, but not on the Senate.”
Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a freshman lawmaker from North Carolina, signaled he may “pay the bail for any Republican staffer arrested for not wearing a mask,” referencing Vice President Kamala Harris’s previous support for bail funds.
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The House originally mandated on July 29, 2020, that all members be masked on the floor before lifting the requirement for vaccinated members last month in accordance with new CDC guidance saying that vaccinated people could ditch masks indoors.
Several Republican lawmakers were fined under the initial mask policy.
