Rep. Nancy Mace says she was attacked by an advocate for transgender rights who “accosted” her at a congressional office building.
The South Carolina Republican, who has been crusading to bar transgender women from Capitol Hill ladies rooms, told cops that the “pro-trans man” grabbed her, hurting her wrist and arm.
“One new brace for my wrist and some ice for my arm and it’ll heal just fine,” Mace tweeted.
Capitol Hill police said they charged James McIntyre, 33, of Illinois, of assaulting a public official Tuesday evening after questioning him about the incident.
It wasn’t immediately clear if McIntyre, an award-winning Chicago advocate for kids in foster care, was jailed by cops.
He was apparently attending an event promoting foster care that Mace also addressed at the Rayburn Office Building.
Colleagues said McIntyre shook hands with Mace outside the office building and asked her to protect the rights of transgender children, according to a report in The Imprint, an independent news site that covers “the nation’s child welfare and youth justice systems.”
“From what I saw, it was a normal handshake and interaction that I would expect any legislator to expect from anyone as a constituent,” Elliott Hinkle, an advocate for foster kids and LGBTQ youth, told the Imprint.
Mace has launched a fierce crusade against transgender women in recent weeks, especially since Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Delaware) won election as the first-ever openly transgender member of Congress.
Mace has successfully pushed GOP leaders to bar transgender women from using the ladies room on Capitol Hill and hopes to pass a bill barring them from using bathrooms reserved for women in any federal buildings.
Republicans are seeking to exploit a powerful backlash against transgender rights that analysts say helped drive GOP gains in the recent election.
President-elect Trump spent tens of millions of dollars on ads accusing Democratic rival Kamala Harris of being too strongly supportive of transgender rights.