Oh the Right-wing sites had a feeding frenzy yesterday with the news that Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) assaulted a capital police officer.

First off here is what Drudge had to say about it:

Congresswoman McKinney Punches Police Officer… MORE… Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) punched a U.S. Capitol Police officer today after he mistakenly pursued her for failing to pass through a metal detector, HOTLINE reports… The entire incident is on tape. The cop is pressing charges and the USCP are waiting until Congress adjourns to arrest her, a source claims… Developing…

You got to give it to old Matt – his stories are always developing and usually end up doing so. The problem is they develop into something other than that of what he said. Now he was somewhat close on this. The Congresswoman did punch the officer and the officer did mistakenly pursue her after failing to pass through a metal detector.

The problem lies in after that. First off, the HOTLINE report says nothing about the cop pressing charges and the officers waiting to arrest her:

Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) punched a U.S. Capitol Police officer today after he mistakenly pursued her for failing to pass through a metal detector.

Members are not required to pass through metal detectors and the officer, manning a position at Longworth House Office Building, apparently did not recognize McKinney and didn’t see her Member pin.

The officer called out “Ma’am, Ma’am,” in an attempt to stop her.

When the officer caught up to McKinney, he grabbed her by the arm.

McKinney pulled her arm away, swung around, cell phone in hand, and punched the officer square in the chest, according to the witness.

McKinney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Actually Hotline’s report makes it sound more like a simple case of a mistake than some deliberate assault like Drudge makes it out to be. Now let’s see how another right-wing site tries to spin this.

News Max is reporting this:

Rep. Cynthia McKinney Smacks Policeman

Rep. Cynthia McKinney and a police officer scuffled Wednesday after the Georgia Democrat entered a House office building unrecognized and refused to stop when asked, according to U.S. Capitol Police.

McKinney, a sixth-term congresswoman who represents suburban Atlanta, struck the officer according to one account, a police official said, adding there were conflicting accounts. The officer, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident, spoke only on condition of anonymity.

No charges were filed, police said.

They got more of the facts right once you get past the incorrect headline. She didn’t “smack” the officer. She punched him in the chest with her cellphone in her hand. Smacking does a good job at making it sound like she did it on purpose, or was just truly defying the officer. Punching the officer after he grabbed her by the arm makes it sound more confrontational, like she was doing so as a reflexive defense mechanism.

So now we see which media is truly into the game of “exaggeration”. It comes as no surprise to us, but it is nice to point it out and refresh the memory of those who might be falling for the right wing propaganda.