The US Marshals service is investigating whether Congressman Peter King (R-Long Island) violated federal policy by accompanying marshals on a videotaped raid inside a private residence and identifying himself as a police officer.
The video shows King, dressed in a police jacket, taking part in the raid which arrested a suspect in a Bronx apartment on Monday last.
King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, defended his actions saying he had done nothing wrong. King, head of the Friends of Ireland in Congress is considered the member most active on Irish issues in the house.
The presence of the videographer is a clear violation of federal policy says legal experts, as was King’s presence at the raid inside the house.
Only persons who are US Marshals, employees or members of a task force are allowed film inside a residence during a raid.
The eight and a half minute videtape was originally posted on King’s website but was quickly taken down. However, Talking Points Memo, a political site, grabbed the original video before it was removed.
King’s staff and the congressman himself have defended their actions.
“Congressman King was invited by the U.S. Marshals to accompany them in a series of raids and everything was done in compliance with their procedures,” King’s spokesman Kevin Fogarty told the Wall Street Journal.
King insists he didn’t do anything wrong.
“My understanding is anytime somebody makes a complaint, they always looks into it and that’s what this is all about but everything I did was in full compliance with what the marshals set out as the proper procedures,” King told 1010 WINS.
“I’m not aware there’s any concern with the U.S. Marshals because the U.S. Marhals are there the entire time on Monday and I spoke with them before, during, and after the raid,” King told WCBS 880′s Steve Scott on Wednesday. “I think what you have is you have some media group which is raising some objections and that’s the extent of it. Nobody in the Marshals at all has raised any objections with me then or since.”
13 Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.RedBranch | Mar 16, 2012, 04:40 PM EDT
SS RUC SS RUC.
mayoman | Mar 16, 2012, 12:35 PM EDT
Why was Rep. King involved in a police raid?
irishpjk | Mar 16, 2012, 08:49 AM EDT
I could be wrong but I think Peter King is one of the people who help make the laws that the federal marshals enforce. If that be so then I think as a maker of the laws he should be able to observe how the laws are enforced. If you know anything about Peter King you would know that he is a very fair man and will always try to do the right thing no matter what nationality, color, gender or religion is involved he has one standard for all. That is why he is a GOP congress man in a very Democratic New York. If all our political leaders would try to emulate Peter King we would all be better off.
Seanmor | Mar 15, 2012, 07:56 PM EDT
I'm reminded of an incident in lower Manhattan when John lindseay was mayor in the late 60s.A passer-by threw a newspaper on the sidewalk and the wind blew the pages in all directions. Annoyed by this obvious violation, Lindsay asked an aid if he were empowered to issue the litterer a summons. The aid replied that he was authorized to do so athe city's Chief Magistrate. The aids detained a offender as Lindsay flagged down a police car and wrote out a summons for the litter bug. Could it be that as Chairman of the House Homeland Security, King has police powers in certain situations?
CitizenWhy | Mar 15, 2012, 01:58 PM EDT
If this man were hurt in this raid the US government would be in for a huge liability. The marshals who allowed this need to get sobered up about their responsibilities - and liabilities - under the law. I wait for details, but I presume this was a raid against undocumented Hispanic workers, or non-white drug pushers. But we will see when all the facts come out.
CitizenWhy | Mar 15, 2012, 01:55 PM EDT
What kind of nonsense is this pulling off. Acting as a police officer when he's not. This should be a serious crime. A typical right wing drama queen.
T.Gallagher | Mar 15, 2012, 01:26 PM EDT
Peter King is a media hog who is obviously putting on a show for his constituents. He is playing at being a "big bad" agent helping to bring down a criminal. While I have no doubt that this man is a criminal, it looked like over kill with a bunch of Brooklyn boys going after one black man. Then you have one officer stopping on the ground seemingly bragging about how he stopped the guy. However, I strongly feel that Peter King is a racist, even though I am not an African American. He is arrogant and thinks he is above the law, which is true of many politicians these days. This incident reminds me of when King spouted off after Michael Jackson's death claiming that he just KNEW the man was guilty even though 12,conservative, non-black jurors declared him innocent on all counts. Mr. King believes that he knows all despite our legal system. He didn't even read court transcripts or do his research when he spouted off. Hummm, Mr. Jackson was black too.....
bunkerhill | Mar 15, 2012, 01:10 PM EDT
This is a non-story unless we know what the raid was for and why Peter King was there.
paddyRanger | Mar 15, 2012, 12:55 PM EDT
"The US Marshals service is investigating whether"...."invited by the US marshalls" and the US marshalls were there........what another nonsense story no doubt stirred up by demorats......
pilib04 | Mar 15, 2012, 12:54 PM EDT
No information as to why King was involved in the raid? His role in Irish American affairs is mentioned in the article, does that mean the raid was on Irish-Americans. What did the raid have to do with?
Paradigm | Mar 15, 2012, 11:05 AM EDT
Surprise! Surprise! Peter King "playing both ends against the middle"? He's done that all his political 'career' - opportunistic and shallow populist.
SingleDonald | Mar 15, 2012, 10:21 AM EDT
I am in Peter King's District, and have received postal & E-Mail correspondence from him. This should be a "no-brainer": the U.S. Marshalls accepted both him, and the videographer, as they went on their raid. Any second guessing should come from the Marshall Service, concerning their marshalls allowing the Congressman & videographer to accompany them. Their should be no culpability on the parts Peter King, or his videographer.
Mousemess | Mar 15, 2012, 10:07 AM EDT
Doesn't matter how Irish-connected he is, if he is impersonating a police officer, he is breaking the law and can get into big trouble.