Congresswoman Scuffles With Police

A longtime congresswoman and a police officer scuffled after the lawmaker entered a House of Representatives office building unrecognized and refused to stop when asked, according to U.S. Capitol Police.

There were conflicting accounts about the incident Wednesday, a police official said. One version said Cynthia McKinney, a Democrat who was first elected in 1992 and represents Atlanta's suburbs, struck the officer, the official said. The officer, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident, spoke on condition of anonymity.

No charges were filed, police said.

McKinney issued a statement Wednesday night saying she regretted the confrontation.

"I know that Capitol Hill Police are securing our safety, and I appreciate the work that they do. I have demonstrated my support for them in the past and I continue to support them now," she said.

Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said nothing more than senior officials were aware of the incident and were investigating.

Members of Congress do not have to walk through metal detectors as they enter buildings on the Capitol Hill complex, as everyone else does. They wear lapel pins that identify them as members.

McKinney normally does not wear her pin and is recognized by many officers, the police official said. The official said she had not been wearing it when she entered a House office building early Wednesday.

By one police account, she walked around a metal detector and an officer asked her several times to stop. When she did not, the officer tried to stop her, and she then struck the officer, according to that account.

McKinney was defeated in 2002 after she implied on a talk radio program that the Bush administration might have had advance notice of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She won back the seat two years later with 64 percent of the vote.