Who Is James McIntyre? Nancy Mace Attack Suspect

U.S. Capitol Police said on Tuesday that they arrested a person accused of assaulting Representative Nancy Mace.

James McIntyre, 33, of Illinois, was arrested on Tuesday evening and charged with assaulting a government official.

Police said they were able to track down McIntyre after Mace's office reported the assault shortly before 6 p.m.

"Tonight, the United States Capitol Police (USCP) arrested a person who is accused of assaulting a U.S. representative," a Capitol Police spokesperson said in a statement.

"Just before 6:00 p.m., the Member of Congress' office reported an incident in the Rayburn House Office Building. House Division officers, and agents with the Threat Assessment Section, tracked down the suspect."

"After an investigative interview, officers arrested the suspect, 33-year-old James McIntyre of Illinois. McIntyre is facing a charge for Assaulting a Government Official," they said.

At the time of the incident, the Rayburn House Office Building was open to the public, police also said.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., speaks to reporters as she leaves the Capitol for the Thanksgiving recess on Thursday, November 21, 2024. Police have arrested a suspect after Mace said she was assaulted on Tuesday night. Bill Clark/AP

Authorities confirmed McIntyre had passed through standard security screening before entering the building. McIntyre was attending an event of the Foster Youth Caucus at which Mace, a co-chair of the group, spoke, at the time of the alleged assault, according to Axios.

Mace took to X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday night to address the incident, claiming it stemmed from her position on transgender rights.

"I was physically accosted at the Capitol tonight by a pro-tr*ns man," she wrote.

"One new brace for my wrist and some ice for my arm and it'll heal just fine," she added. "The Capitol police arrested the guy. Your tr*ns violence and threats on my life will only make me double down. FAFO. #HoldTheLine."

Police have not confirmed whether the suspect was an advocate of transgender rights. Newsweek has contacted Capitol Police and Mace for more information via email.

The alleged assault came one month after a row erupted on Capitol Hill over a bill proposed by Mace seeking to ban House members and staffers from "using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex."

Mace proposed the bill after the United States elected its first ever transgender member of Congress, Sarah McBride, who will represent Delaware's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from January.

"Sarah McBride doesn't get a say in this. If you're a biological man, you shouldn't be in women's restrooms," Mace told journalist Pablo Manríquez in November.

Mace's bill has been supported by several Republicans, including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said in a statement last month that "all single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings—such as restrooms, changing rooms and locker rooms—are reserved for individuals of that biological sex."

However, Mace's bill has also received plenty of criticism, with Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accusing Mace and Johnson of "endangering all women and girls." She added that all the bill has done "is allowed these Republicans to go around and bully any women who isn't wearing a skirt because they think she might not look women enough."

Mace has not answered questions about how one would check who is qualified to use female or male restrooms. If Mace's measure were passed, its management would fall under the jurisdiction of the sergeant-at-arms, which is the chief law enforcement officer at the House of Representatives.

Following the remarks, Mace called Ocasio-Cortez a "radical leftist, insane clown" and added that she had been a victim of rape.

"I'm a survivor of sexual abuse, I have PTSD from the abuse I've suffered at the hands of a man, and it's so weird and dangerous and perverted, this idea that it's OK for a naked man to be in a locker room with women, it's insanity to me, and this has got to stop," she told Fox News.

Multiple studies and reviews have found no evidence to support claims that transgender individuals pose an increased threat to safety in bathrooms. Transgender people are also more likely to be the victims of violent crimes than those who are not.

She also claimed she had been on the phone to Capitol Police following "threats" she had received from the "radical left."

"I've been on phone with Capitol Police because I've received so many threats from the radical left, from men dressed as women, who think I should be killed because I want women to have private spaces like bathrooms, dressing rooms and locker rooms, so I'm gonna stay in the way of anyone, like Congressman-elect McBride, anyone who wants to harm women, I'm not going to tolerate at all."

Meanwhile, in a statement shared with Newsweek last month, McBride said Mace's bill was a "blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing."

"We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars. Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible and that's what I'm focused on," she added.

Last week, protesters opposed to Mace's measure staged a protest outside a House office building.