Officers are told to report members of Congress who are not wearing masks, too
United States Capitol Police (USCP) were told to arrest visitors and staff who decline to wear a mask on the House side of the Capitol complex, according to a police memo issued by new USCP Chief Thomas Manger that was acquired by a member of Congress.
Officers were told not to arrest members of Congress for not wearing masks but to report the lawmakers’ not following the rules to the House sergeant-at-arms, the memo states. House members have been fined starting at $500 for not following the mask mandates.
Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., got a copy of the memo handed out at Thursday’s morning roll call from an anonymous police officer, she told Fox News. Officers she’s spoken to aren’t comfortable with these new regulations and Cammack describes it as “tyrannical.”
“This is such an overstep of Speaker Pelosi’s authority to basically make our Capitol Police arrest staff members and report on members [of Congress],” Cammack told Fox News Thursday. “It’s absolutely unconscionable that this is where we’re at.”
Cammack, similar to the majority of other GOP reps, are not happy about the return of coronavirus mask mandates at the House, even if they have been vaccinated. The mask mandates follow new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance with the newer contagiousstrain COVID delta and lower-than-expected vaccination rates.
GOP members huddled with Capitol Attending Physician Brian P. Monahan Wednesday at the Capitol to explain their issues with the new mask guidance and to argue it’s not based on science. GOP members have openly disobeyed the mask mandates – especially since it’s not in place on the Senate side – and argue that it is a politically motivated regulation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“I cannot comply with this tyrannical order,” Cammack said. “This is the people’s house, not Nancy Pelosi’s house.”
The Capitol Police say this is the same rule that was formerly in place and there’s “no reason” a situation should have to include an arrest.
“Regarding the House rules about masks, there is no reason it should ever come to someone being arrested,” the USCP said in a statement to Fox News. “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.”
Pelosi’s office said she did not tell officers to start arresting people because it’s not within her power.
“The speaker of the House does not control the U.S. Capitol Police,” Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill told Fox News. “We were unaware of the memo until it was reported in the press.”
Still, GOP leadership was fast to jump on the police’s involvement with mask enforcement.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Thursday pointed out the police are only allowed to arrest people on the House side of the complex, not the Senate side, because leadership in the upper chamber hasn’t reinstated the mask mandates.
“If you are a Capitol police officer you got orders … if a vaccinated staffer comes across in the House side without a mask you’re ordered to arrest them, but not on the Senate side,” McCarthy said. “This is not the America we know.”
GOP Steve Scalise, R-La., alleges the officer enforcement came straight from Pelosi – which the speaker’s office denies.
“To be clear: Pelosi is directing police to ARREST vaccinated people who aren’t wearing masks,” Scalise tweeted. “This isn’t about science—it’s about power and control.”
The two-page guidance from Wednesday was released by the new police chief, Manger, who took over on Friday to run the Capitol Police force, which is still reeling from the Jan. 6 riot and Good Friday attack at the Capitol.
The memo states that police must wear masks at all times while indoors. It says the police who work on the House side of the Capitol “shall enforce this mask policy on all staff and visitors” in “House Office Buildings, the Hall of the House, and House Committee meetings.”
If a guest or staff member does not wear a mask, they will be not permitted entry. “Any person who fails to either comply or to leave the premises after being asked to do so would be subject to an arrest for Unlawful Entry,” the memo states.
But police are advised not to arrest members of Congress, since the constitution says lawmakers are excluded from some arrests, such as unlawful entry, according to the USCP.
“Although this applies to the Members of Congress, officers should not arrest any Member for failure to wear a mask or to comply with the mask mandate,” the guidance states. “Any Member who fails to comply with a request to wear a mask should be reported to the House Sergeant at Arm’s office.”
A Democratic House aide told Fox News that the guidance for officers on mask arrests is not new, but rather it’s the same language that police used last year when the original mask regulations took effect.
The aide produced a USCP memo from July 31, 2020, that said if a guest or a staff member declines to follow the mask rules, the person “would be subject to an arrest for Unlawful Entry.”
The 2020 guidance also tells police to “not arrest” members of Congress who do not follow with Speaker Pelosi’s orders. Instead, the lawmakers “should be reported” to the House sergeant-at-arms office.
“There’s nothing new here other than a coordinated Twitter campaign,” the aide told Fox News on Thursday.