Two days after far-left Rep. Jamaal Bowman set off a fire alarm in a House office building, the Bronx and Westchester lawmaker triggered a very different alert while asking his colleagues to come to his defense Monday.
The 47-year-old’s team circulated a memo of talking points for his fellow Democrats that referred to “Nazi” Republican lawmakers — as Brooklyn and Staten Island GOPer Nicole Malliotakis introduced a resolution to expel Bowman from the House over the stunt.
The resolution is unlikely to be approved, since it needs the backing of two-thirds of the chamber and Republicans currently hold a four-seat majority. But that didn’t stop Bowman from pulling the swastika card.
“I believe Congressman Bowman when he says this was an accident,” read the offending passage. “Republicans need to instead focus their energy on the Nazi members of their party before anything else.”
Nicole Malliotakis argued that Congress should expel her Empire State colleague. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY PostBowman’s office later tried to pull back the talking points and the Democrat claimed his staff had slipped in the Nazi reference unbeknownst to him
“I just became aware that in our messaging guidance, there was inappropriate use of the term Nazi without my consent,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“I condemn the use of the term Nazi out of its precise definition. It is important to specify the term Nazi to refer to members of the Nazi party & neo-Nazis.”
Bowman’s office did not immediately respond to a question about which staffer added the purportedly unsanctioned Nazi reference.
Michael Gerald, Bowman’s only declared challenger for the 2024 Democratic primary in New York’s 16th District, called the congressman’s actions and statements “the height of idiocy.”
“To invoke that sort of language is catastrophic,” Gerald told The Post, adding that he believed Bowman likely issued the talking points “to deflect from his personal lack of moral judgment.”
“He heard, as we all did going to school, ‘Don’t pull the fire alarm,’” he went on, noting Bowman must have “presided over a countless number of fire drills” as a former middle school principal.
As a former New Jersey state trooper, Gerald also said it was a “very irresponsible and a dereliction of duty” to flee the scene.
Malliotakis pitched the measure with approximately a dozen co-sponsors, arguing that Bowman deserved the punishment for disrupting an official proceeding.
“It’s not just the act of pulling a fire alarm. It was during an official proceeding. That is the same thing that they have gone after those individuals who walked into the Capitol on Jan. 6th,” the Republican told “Fox and Friends” Monday.
Jamaal Bowman’s team suggested he was confused by the signage when he pulled the fire alarm. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY PostHis team also reiterated Bowman’s repeated assertion that he had made an “honest mistake” and was thrown off by “confusing signage.”
Images show the alarm Bowman pulled is clearly marked with the word “FIRE” — and is located next to two signs that provide explicit details on how to open the emergency door at the Cannon House Office Building.
“Emergency Exit Only!” read the signs, which Bowman would have only needed to turn 90 degrees to his right to see. “Push until alarm sounds (3 seconds). Door will unlock in 30 seconds.”
Surveillance footage showed the progressive congressman triggering the alarm. USCP“MAGA Republicans have used this as an opportunity to distract from their attempt to shut the government down and to minimize January 6th insurrectionists,” the Bowman memo further stated.
Bowman’s alarm activation came amid a successful Saturday scramble to avert a government shutdown, which was avoided minutes before a 11:59 p.m. deadline.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a stopgap spending bill that keeps federal operations going for another six weeks.
The New York rep was first sworn into Congress back in 2021. Getty ImagesThe Bowman talking points memo suggests he was given the text of the bill about 15 minutes before the scheduled vote.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) stalled for time by speaking on the floor for 52 minutes while members of his conference skimmed the bill for objectionable material.
Ultimately, only one Democrat, Mike Quigley of Illinois, voted against the bill, which passed the House 335-91.
Marjorie Taylor Greene alleged that there is a double standard between how the Jan. 6 Capitol rioter and Jamaal Bowman were treated. AP“I was just trying to get to my vote,” Bowman said at the time. “The door that’s usually open wasn’t open. I didn’t mean to cause confusion. I didn’t know it was going to trip the whole building. I thought it would help me open the door.”
Republican critics such as Malliotakis have emphasized that obstructing an official proceeding is against federal law punishable by fines and “not more than 20 years.”
“It is an extreme reach on the part of MAGA Republicans to assert that Rep Bowman intended to harm or destruct anyone or thing. The exact opposite is true: he was trying to do his job,” the Bowman memo added as a suggested talking point.
A handful of Democrats have come to Jamaal Bowman’s defense. Rod Lamkey – CNP“I think there’s there’s something to be said about — the government’s about to shut down. There’s a vote clock that’s going down. The exits that are normally open in that building were suddenly closed,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Jeffries was mum on the matter over the weekend, contending that he was waiting to see the security camera footage of the ordeal.
Bowman sat for an interview with Capitol Police, which said Monday it is still investigating the matter. A House Administration Committee probe into the incident is also underway.






