Old photo circulating does not show US Rep. Bowman triggering Capitol fire alarm

A photo of Democratic U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman’s arrest at the U.S. Capitol during a voting rights protest in 2022 has been falsely captioned online as showing the congressman being taken into custody for activating a fire alarm in the Capitol complex on Sept. 30, 2023.

Bowman faces an investigation for pulling a fire alarm in the Capitol complex on Saturday while his party was trying to delay a vote, prompting an evacuation, Reuters reported.

In a statement, Bowman said he activated the alarm by mistake and was not trying to delay the vote, and that he had spoken with the Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol Police about the incident.

“BREAKING: Democrat Congressman Jamaal Bowman has been ARRESTED by capitol police for pulling a fire alarm in the capitol in a desperate effort to delay the House CR vote to keep the government open,” reads the caption of posts sharing a photograph of Bowman getting arrested on Facebook and X social media.