U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney has been known to ruffle some feathers with her candor and confidence, but the Georgia politician now finds herself embroiled in another potentially damaging controversy.

McKinney, who is seeking a seventh term in the House, is being investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police for allegedly assaulting an officer after attempting to bypass a security checkpoint. The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon when McKinney was entering the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill. As many elected officials do, McKinney walked around the metal detector, but the officer reportedly didn’t recognize McKinney and asked her to stop.

Witness accounts say McKinney did not stop at the request of the officer, who then placed his hand on her shoulder. The feisty congresswoman -- apparently caught off guard -- turned and hit the officer in his chest with her cell phone, according to reports.

In a written statement issued Wednesday evening, McKinney apologized for the incident and admitted that she was not wearing the Congressional pin that all members of the House are expected to wear, one possible reason the guard did not recognize her. Other reports are stating that McKinney may have been unrecognizable due to her new hairstyle.

In the statement, McKinney said she has supported the U.S. Capitol Police in the past and continues to do so. Saying she “deeply regrets” the incident, McKinney said she was simply trying to get to work for the Georgia residents she represents.

“I was urgently trying to get to an important meeting on time to fulfill my obligations to my constituents,” McKinney’s statement reads. “Unfortunately, the police officer did not recognize me as a member of Congress, and a confrontation ensued.”

This is not the first time that McKinney has been unable to receive a pass from security checkpoints, according to reports. In a Slate magazine interview, McKinney said a Capitol Hill police officer stopped her from bypassing a metal detector during her first term in 1993. The incident and subsequent ones provoked the police force to post a picture of McKinney at checkpoints so officers could better identify her because of her choice not to wear the Congressional pin.

McKinney has complained about other incidents in which she perceived to be treated differently due to the color of her skin. During a 1998 reception at the White House, McKinney said a guard at the entrance deferred to the white aide accompanying McKinney as the person of authority, according to a USA Today story. Once inside the White House, McKinney said another guard attempted to stop her, letting her go only when a colleague vouched for her.

Not letting the treatment go unaddressed, McKinney sent a note to then-President Bill Clinton.

"I am absolutely sick and tired of having to have my appearance at the White House validated by white people," wrote McKinney, who later received an apology from the administration. "I don't need to be stopped or questioned because I happen to look like hired help.”

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police, declined to comment on whether she has any knowledge of other McKinney run-ins, but confirms that her agency is looking into this latest incident.

“In regards to the incident that took place (Wednesday), we’re aware of that, and that’s what we’re investigating,” Schneider told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “But we’re not talking about anything that happened in the past.”

McKinney is now in her sixth term in Congress. She took a brief respite in 2002 when she lost a Democratic primary to Denise Majette. The defeat came on the heels of McKinney’s critical comments of President George W. Bush, whom McKinney claimed had advanced notice of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Majette eventually ran for the U.S. Senate, allowing McKinney to easily win reelection to the seat she’s held for more than a decade.

McKinney now faces a July Democratic primary challenge from two-term DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson, who like Majette, is black. If McKinney is using race as a possible factor in Wednesday’s incident, Johnson isn’t buying it.

“That’s a convenient argument to be made,” Johnson told BlackAmericaWeb.com, adding that if lawmakers take umbrage with the fact that officers may not immediately recognize them, they should always wear the Congressional pin.
Johnson said he’s disappointed with McKinney’s latest headline-making act.

“I was embarrassed, and I felt that this was just another controversy which further affects her ability to effectively represent the people of the 4th Congressional District,” Johnson said, adding that he is not alone in his feelings over the incident.

“Many people are talking about it,” Johnson said. “It’s the big elephant in the room that you can’t ignore.”

A spokesperson for McKinney said he was unable to give a comment at press time.

Cheryl M. Miller, Ph.D., a professor of political science at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, said the situation with McKinney reminds her of a time when Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice attempted to greet a high-ranking Russian official during George H.W. Bush’s presidency. Rice, who was then director of Soviet and East European Affairs for the National Security Council, was initially stopped by security because she didn’t have a badge identifying her as a member of the administration.

High-ranking or influential positions don’t change the fact that you’re still black at the end of the day, Miller said.

“I know that Rep. McKinney has been controversial in the past, but it’s not about politics as much as it is about perception and race issues in America. People do get stopped,” Miller told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

But it’s quite possible, Miller said, that the police officer may have just been trying to do his job in checking to see who McKinney was.

“Most of the time when you have high-ranking people, (the officers) try to show respect even if they don’t want to,” Miller said. “I can understand if she was touched in a disrespectful way, but I can also see that if she had her badge on, it would seem to be a different story.”

Miller said that McKinney may have overreacted in taking a swing at the officer, but many people will likely understand if she simply lost her composure.

“That’s the thing about being black in America,” Miller said. “It’s really two parallel universes we live in, and non-African Americans don’t understand that you’re tested and challenged. You can really reach a point where the straw breaks the camel’s back.”