Bowman rips Greene for ‘reckless,’ ‘dangerous’ remarks about Capitol encounter

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) criticized Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Thursday for “reckless” and “dangerous” remarks after she said she felt “threatened” following an encounter the two had the day before on the steps of the Capitol. 

Bowman mentioned the lynching of Emmett Till in 1955 and the killing by police in Ferguson, Mo., of Michael Brown in 2014 in criticizing Greene, saying she was putting him in danger with her remarks and playing on racist tropes that demonized Black men.

Greene is “not even using a dog whistle” but a “bullhorn to put a target on my back,” he said.

“Throughout history, Black men have continually been characterized as aggressive because, one, of our skin color, but two, because we happen to be outspoken and passionate about certain issues,” Bowman said. 

Greene at a press conference earlier in the day had said that Bowman has a “history of aggression” toward her and others that she is “very concerned” about.

“Yelling, shouting, raising his voice. He has aggressive — his physical mannerisms are aggressive,” she said. 

“I think there’s a lot of concern about Jamaal Bowman, and I am concerned about it. I feel threatened by him,” Greene added. 

Bowman said he never invaded Greene’s personal space during their interaction and was laughing during the exchange. 

“Anyone who has interacted with me, anyone who knows me, any reporters here know I’m middle school principal energy. I’m teacher energy. I’m always loving and engaging and friendly, except when kids are being killed in our streets. Everyone should be outraged about that,” he said.

The exchange happened Wednesday after Bowman and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) interrupted Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) responding to questions from reporters.

Earlier Wednesday, the House had referred a resolution to expel Santos to the Ethics Committee following the federal indictment filed against him, with the move in effect delaying a decision on whether he should be removed from Congress. 

After Bowman and Ocasio-Cortez yelled that Santos should not still be in office, Bowman and Greene had a heated exchange in which he said the GOP is “hanging on by a thread.” He told her she needs to save the party with “no more QAnon, no more MAGA, no more debt ceiling nonsense.” 

Greene responded by chanting “impeach Biden.” Bowman told her the party needs to “do something about guns,” and Greene said, “Right, so close the border.” 

Greene said on Thursday that Bowman led a “mob” when she went to New York to protest the indictment of former President Trump on felony charges of falsifying business records. 

She said Bowman shouted “at the top of his lungs,” cursed at her and called her a white supremacist, to which she said she takes “great offense.” 

“That is like calling a person of color the N-word, which should never happen,” she said. “Calling me a white supremacist is equal to that, and that is wrong.” 

Greene also said she was “swarmed” and feared for her life. 

Bowman said on Thursday that Greene’s comments were typical of white supremacists.

“Unfortunately, white supremacists, historically, this is what they do. They try to dehumanize Black people, Black skin and the Black humanity so that they can be more likely to be targeted for harm,” Bowman said.

This story was updated at 4:55 p.m.