Cory Booker staffer arrested for allegedly carrying pistol without license at Capitol
A congressional staffer was arrested for carrying a pistol without a license after being escorted into the U.S. Capitol by a member of Congress, police said Tuesday.
The United States Capitol Police said in a statement, “Yesterday afternoon, a Member of Congress led an ID’ed staff member around security screening at the Hart Senate Office Building.”
“Later that evening, outside the Senate Galleries, the IDed staff member — who is a retired law enforcement officer — told our officers he was armed.”
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“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,” the statement continued.
Batts is listed as a “Special Assistant” to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., on Legistorm, a research entity that routinely updates salaries and information about lawmakers and their staff.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Booker spokesperson Jeff Giertz said, “Senator 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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In 2016, Booker shared a video of Batts on social media, who he identified as a former detective in Newark. At the time, Batts said he had worked for either the city of Newark or Booker’s office for 28 years.
“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. In 2006, he joined my security detail as a member of Newark’s executive protection unit. In 2013 he joined my Senate staff. I am truly blessed by his friendship and loyal hard work,” the senator wrote on Instagram.
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Booker also mentioned Batts in a 2017 commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania. “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…,” he said.
Batts’ arrest comes as Booker continues to break records for one of the longest floor speeches in American Senate history.
The senator, who began speaking Monday night, now holds the fourth-longest Senate floor speeches, recently surpassing Sen. Robert La Follette, R-Wis., who spoke for 18 hours and 23 minutes in 1908.
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Next up is the record held by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose speech against Obamacare in 2013 went on for 21 hours and 19 minutes.
The record holder is Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes against a civil rights bill in 1957.
If Booker continues to speak, he will break Thurmond’s record around 7:19 pm Eastern time on Tuesday night.
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