While his boss was setting a record on the Senate floor, Democratic aide Kevin A. Batts was getting his own record — for an arrest.
In a report broken by Notus, Batts, a longtime aide for New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police.
Batts is alleged to have been carrying a pistol on Capitol grounds without a license.
Newsweek, citing Capitol Police, noted that “[f]irearms are not permitted in the District of Columbia or on U.S. Capitol grounds.”
The outlet added: “Only official law enforcement personnel are permitted to carry one if it is necessary for their job duties.”
Perhaps more disconcertingly, it appears that Batts was led through security by a member of Congress, at least according to what Capitol Police claimed.
According to WTTG, local authorities stated that, “a Member of Congress led an IDed staff member around security screening at the Hart Senate Office Building.”
Batts, who has been a member of Booker’s team since 2006, is a former law enforcement officer.
Capitol Police stressed to Newsweek that Batts’ former vocation still didn’t give him the right to carry the pistol.
“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,” authorities said.
Batts’ arrest comes the same day Booker made history on the Senate floor.
The embattled New Jersey senator officially broke the record for the longest speech on the Senate floor when he spoke for over 25 hours between Monday evening and Tuesday.
According to NBC News, Booker took to the Senate floor at approximately 7 p.m. ET on Monday.
The purpose of this spectacle, as put by Booker himself, was to disrupt “the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able.”
The speech from Booker was singularly anti-President Donald Trump, while also providing opposition to Trump’s administration.
Booker would eventually speak — with the occasional break to yield to his allies to speak, but without abdicating his position — for a record-setting 25 hours and four minutes.
As pointed out by Axios, that shattered the record set by former South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, who spoke at length for 24 hours and 18 minutes in 1957.
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