Okay, Is Anyone Surprised?

A trans man was arrested for shaking the hand of a congresswoman. So what is alleged to have happened?

US Capitol Police arrest suspect that Representative Nancy Mace says attacked her
By Reuters
December 11, 2024

The U.S. Capitol Police said they arrested a person suspected of assaulting Republican U.S. Representative Nancy Mace, who recently introduced a bill aimed at blocking the chamber's first openly transgender member from using women's bathrooms.

Capitol Police said they arrested James McIntyre, 33, of Illinois in the Rayburn House office building after Mace's report and he is charged with assaulting a government official.

Police did not elaborate on the incident or provide a motive. McIntyre was not immediately available for comment.

"I was physically accosted tonight on Capitol grounds over my fight to protect women. Capitol police have arrested him," Mace said in an X post Tuesday evening. "All the violence and threats keep proving our point. Women deserve to be safe."

Mace said President-elect Donald Trump called her Wednesday to check in on her.

Since then other reports have come in contradicting her.

Foster advocacy group denies that arrested member assaulted Rep. Nancy Mace
The foster advocacy group says the man simply shook hands with the congresswoman.
The Washington Post
By Peter Hermann and Keith L. Alexander
December 11, 2024

The head of a foster-care advocacy group is disputing allegations that one of its members assaulted Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) during a reception Tuesday night at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, saying the two merely shook hands during what appeared to be an amicable greeting.

[…]

The arrest startled a foster-care advocate from Wyoming who said in an interview that they had witnessed the exchange. Elliott Hinkle said they were standing near McIntyre when he reached out his hand and Mace reached out hers. Hinkle said McIntyre used both hands to shake the congresswoman’s hand.

“What we witnessed was a handshake, a passionate shake, but it didn’t look like an assault or intended aggression,” Hinkle said, referencing several people they said also saw the encounter. They said McIntyre told Mace, “Trans youth are also foster youth, and they need your support.”

Was it an over embellishment on the part of the of the Congresswoman?

Details of the arrest were first reported by the Imprint, a publication that covers youth and family news, including child welfare, juvenile justice and youth homelessness.

So let’s see what Imprint had to say.

The incident took place outside a House of Representatives office building following an event honoring the anniversary of a landmark child welfare law where Mace, a firebrand Republican, had given a speech. Three witnesses at the scene told The Imprint their accused colleague James McIntyre had done nothing more than shake the congress member’s hand at the House reception, and asked her to protect the rights of transgender people.

[…]

Elliott Hinkle, a former foster youth and advocate for LGBTQ rights, said McIntyre shook her hand, and made a comment about how many transgender youth are in foster care, adding: “They need your support.”

“From what I saw, it was a normal handshake and interaction that I would expect any legislator to expect from anyone as a constituent,” said Hinkle, a consultant who has advised the federal government on issues affecting youth in foster care.

Later, Hinkle said, one of Mace’s aides returned to the reception and asked McIntyre his name and whether he would repeat what he had told the legislator. Two other people who witnessed the interaction confirmed that description of the brief episode.

The New Republic wrote,

Representative Nancy Mace, known for her attention-seeking antics, called the police on a transgender advocate for foster youth, accusing him of assaulting her outside the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., Tuesday night.

According to three eyewitnesses, James McIntyre simply shook the congresswoman’s hand during a reception following an event celebrating the anniversary of a child welfare law, and asked Mace to protect the rights of transgender people. Mace’s account was very different, however. In a post on X, the congresswoman claimed she “was physically accosted at the Capitol tonight by a pro-tr*ns man.”

[...]

The South Carolina Republican has used fearmongering about trans rights as her pet issue to grab attention in recent weeks, attacking incoming Representative Sarah McBride, who will be sworn in next year as the first transgender member of Congress, with a Capitol bathroom bill that specifically targets her. Former aides have criticized Mace for the attention grab, and the Republican has sought to milk the issue by selling bathroom-themed merchandise.

So is it over embellishment that resulted in the arrest of an innocent person who will now have an arrest record hanging over his head for the rest of his life? Or was it because of the congresswoman's animosity toward the trans community that she said these things against him?