Question: When is the time to panic? Answer: When all the panic
buttons have been removed.
Carl Jarvis
**********
An investigation is underway into why panic buttons were removed from
Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s (D-Mass.) office ahead of last week’s deadly
riot in the U.S. Capitol building, a Pressley spokesperson said.
March On Washington To Protest Police Brutality
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) speaks during the March on Washington
at the Lincoln Memorial on ... [+]
Getty Images
Key Facts
•
As Pressley’s staff sheltered in the Longworth Office Building across
the street from the Capitol during the riot last Wednesday, chief of
staff Sarah Groh noticed the panic buttons installed in the
congresswoman’s office suite in case of emergencies had been ripped
out inexplicably, she told the Boston Globe Wednesday.
•
Staff had used these emergency buttons in the past, a Pressley
spokesperson told Forbes in a statement, and they’re regularly tested.
•
Pressley’s office said the buttons’ disappearance is under
investigation, but declined to say which agencies are investigating
(the U.S. Capitol Police and the House Sergeant At Arms did not
respond to request for comment).
•
New buttons have been installed in Pressley’s office, a spokesperson said.
Crucial Quote
“Every panic button in my office had been torn out — the whole unit,”
Groh told the Globe Wednesday.
Key BackgroundV
