With everything that has played out over the last three or so weeks regarding not only the House Speaker vacancy (which was resolved Wednesday by House Republicans) but also the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, it's been easy to overlook other issues that have been ongoing.

One of them has been the Capitol Police's investigation into the bizarre actions of Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) on Sept. 30th, where the two-term Congressman pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building as House Democrats effectively sought to make a government shutdown a reality by avoiding the vote on a continuing resolution that was meant to avert a shutdown.

Though the video has never been released of the incident, the Capitol Police did circulate the below photo, which Bowman and his office confirmed at the time was him:

🚨🚨NEW -- Capitol Police are circulating this photo of a man pulling the fire alarm in Cannon. Looks a lot like Jamaal Bowman pic.twitter.com/khzpigSvWI

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 30, 2023

Laughably, Bowman tried to shrug it off as him being "confused" about the exit and said he was trying to rush to the floor for a vote, though according to one source, Bowman was actually seen pulling the clearly marked emergency exit signs down.

But though Bowman and his Democratic colleagues including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have insisted Bowman's actions were innocent and not malicious, the Capitol Police have come to a far different conclusion, and are filing a misdemeanor criminal charge against him, saying he "willingly or knowingly gave a false fire alarm."

NBC News Congressional reporter Frank Thorp shared the information on Twitter in a detailed thread:

BREAKING: Rep Jamaal Bowman has been criminally charged with one misdemeanor count of falsely pulling a fire alarm for the September 30th incident in the Cannon Office Building, according to court documents, @dnlbrns & I report.

CAPITOL POLICE: "We finished our investigation. Our agents gathered all the evidence, packaged it up, and sent the entire case with charges to prosecutors for their consideration.”

Capitol Police says their case has been done for a while, and that they presented a probable cause arrest warrant for 22DC1319A - False Fire Alarm - to the attorney general.

Per @dnlbrns, the charge against Rep Bowman carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail. He has been ordered to appear in DC Superior Court tomorrow morning at 9:30am for his arraignment.

The crux of the "affidavit in support of arrest warrant" document seems to be that Bowman had multiple opportunities to alert the Capitol Police that the alarm was a false alarm, but didn't. At the end of it, the Capitol Police say there is "probable cause" to support their conclusion that Bowman "willfully or knowingly gave a false fire alarm within the District of Columbia":

When the defendant pulled the emergency fire alam in the Cannon House Office Building, located at 25 Independence Avenue, SE in the District of Columbia at approximately 12:04 pm on September 30, 2023, there was no fire at that location. Therefore, based upon the evidence, this affiant has probable cause to believe that the defendant willfully or knowingly gave a false fire alarm within the District of Columbia, in violation of D.C. Code: § 22-1319).

Some on Twitter were understandably disappointed that the charges weren't stronger:

BREAKING: Rep. Jamaal Bowman has been charged with one misdemeanor count of falsely pulling a fire alarm.

This is a JOKE. The crime was obstruction of congressional proceedings. That is a felony under federal law 18 U.S.C. § 1505. Up to 5 years in prison.

Bowman could have also… pic.twitter.com/eOCO6E034t

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 25, 2023

The DC Attorney General's office says Bowman was charged with "the only crime we that we have jurisdiction to prosecute" based on the Capitol Police findings.

Bowman seems to believe that in the scheme of things, he got off easy on this one, telling reporters that he was "grateful that the United States Capitol Police General Counsel’s office agreed I did not obstruct nor intend to obstruct any House vote or proceedings" and that he "look[s] forward to these charges being ultimately dropped."

That said, even if he ultimately serves no jail time, the House Ethics Committee is being urged to take action:

New stmt from Committee on House Administration Chairman Steil (R-WI): "Rep. Bowman's excuse does not pass the sniff test...I want to thank U.S. Capitol Police for their swift attention to this incident, and encourage the Ethics Committee to further pursue this matter." pic.twitter.com/tF5myMFqYL

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) October 25, 2023

This is a developing story. We'll keep you updated on further developments.

Flashback: Jamaal Bowman’s Fire Alarm Stunt Wasn’t the Only Despicable Thing He Did This Week