WASHINGTON: Republican US Representative Nancy Mace said she was attacked in the Capitol by an activist angry over a bill she introduced aimed at blocking the chamber’s first openly transgender member from using women’s bathrooms. The Capitol Police said they arrested the attacker following the Tuesday incident.

“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 on Tuesday evening. “All the violence and threats keep proving our point. Women deserve to be safe.” 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 went through security screening before entering the congressional buildings, the police said in a statement.

Democrat Sarah McBride won election in November to become the House of Representatives’ first openly transgender member. She previously said that she would comply with an order by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on bathroom usage, but called it a distraction from more serious issues.

Lawmakers in 37 US states introduced at least 142 bills to restrict gender-affirming healthcare for trans and gender-expansive people in 2023, nearly three times as many as the previous year.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2024