In a wild report out of the Capitol, Kevin Batts, the Special Assistant to Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), was caught carrying a pistol without a license in the United States Capitol, a major embarrassment and black eye for the woke New Jersey senator as he tried to draw attention to himself by completing the longest filibuster in American history.
For reference, Sen. Booker broke a nearly 70-year-old record when he gave a 25-hour, 5-minute long speech in the Senate that filibustered Republicans and sounded off on the Trump Administration’s policies, particularly its deportation policies. In so doing, he broke Senator Strom Thurmond’s slightly over 24-hour-long filibuster against civil rights.
But what should have been something of a triumph, if a pointless one, for Sen. Booker was severely clouded by his special assistant bringing a loaded handgun into the Capitol, as the United States Capitol Police (USCP) announced in a statement about the incident.
Announcing the news on Tuesday, April 1, the USCP noted that Sen. Booker had led Batts around a security screening checkpoint, into an office building. It said, Fox News Digital reports, “Yesterday afternoon, a Member of Congress led an ID’ed staff member around security screening at the Hart Senate Office Building.”
Continuing, the USCP explained that when the staff member was near the gallery of the United States Senate, he was found to be armed. It provided, “Later that evening, outside the Senate Galleries, the IDed staff member — who is a retired law enforcement officer — told our officers he was armed.”
Identifying the staff member and noting what law he is alleged to have broken, the USCP then provided: “The staff member, 59-year-old Kevin A. Batts of New Jersey, was arrested for Carrying a Pistol Without a License. All weapons are prohibited from Capitol Grounds, even if you are a retired law enforcement officer, or have a permit to carry in another state or the District of Columbia.”
Speaking in a statement to Fox News Digital about the incident and what role Batts fills on his staff, Booker’s spokesperson, Jeff Giertz, said, “Sen. Booker’s office employs a retired Newark police detective as a New Jersey-based driver who often accompanies him to events. We are working to better understand the circumstances around this.”
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Sen. Booker has said that Batts is not just a staffer, but a friend of his. Saying as much in a 2016 post on Instagram, the lawmaker stated, “Kevin Batts has been a friend and team member since 2006 when I became mayor and even before. I so deeply appreciate his steadfast friendship, incredible dedication to Newark and now his service to the state. Kevin was raised in Columbus Homes projects in Newark, then spent 6 years in the United States army reserves and then joined the Newark Police Department and became a detective in 2004.”
Similarly, in a 2017 commencement speech, he said, “And as I told my driver, an incredible officer named Kevin Batts, retired from the Newark Police Department, joined my staff because of our friendship and our bond, I said to him, “Kev, we’re almost home but do you mind? We have to swing through the drive-thru.”
Watch part of Booker’s filibuster here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video