October 17th, 2013
12:24 AM ET
9 years ago

Stenographer snaps, rants on House floor

Updated: 2:06 p.m. ET, 10/17/2013

Washington (CNN) – Amid all the chaos of the last-minute deal in Washington, there was an unusual moment on the House floor moments after the bill passed.

A House stenographer and well-known employee calmly took to a microphone and began screaming.

[twitter-follow screen_name='politicalticker']
"Do not be deceived. God shall not be mocked. A House divided cannot stand," she said, according to a House GOP aide. After a few seconds, she was escorted out by the Sergeant-at-Arms, but an audio recording by Todd Zwillich of Public Radio International captured the rest of her rant.

"He will not be mocked, He will not be mocked, (don't touch me) He will not be mocked. The greatest deception here, is that this is not one nation under God. It never was. Had it been... it would not have been... No. it would not have been... the Constitution would not have been written by Free Masons... and go against God. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God, Lord Jesus Christ."

House members and aides were surprised and unsettled by the scene.

"I don't know, she just snapped," said a GOP aide.

CNN's Dana Bash spoke with several staffers who knew the woman well.

"She’s a well-known person, she’s a perfectly nice person, a good colleague, somebody who’s respectable and dependable, and this is very surprising to everybody who works with her," Bash reported on air.

"The Sergeant in Arms didn’t try to stop her because she works there and that’s where she’s situated," Rep. Peter King, R-New York, told Jake Tapper. "And she actually went up behind the podium where the president speaks from. They thought she was going to hand something to the speaker, and then they realized."

Officer Shennell S. Antrobus of Capitol Police told CNN she wasn’t arrested or charged and was transported to a local area hospital by DC Fire for further evaluation.

In terms of an ongoing investigation or further action about the stenographer, Antrobus said no such action will be taken.

"There is nothing more, from our end, that we are going to do," Antrobus said.

–CNN’s Deirdre Walsh, Steve Brusk, Dan Merica and Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.


Filed under: Government Shutdown • House
soundoff (1,094 Responses)
  1. Karloff

    She isn't unique. What's happening in DC is driving everybody crazy.

    October 17, 2013 05:13 am at 5:13 am |
  2. Mal from NY

    What she speaks is true. Eyes on God

    October 17, 2013 05:15 am at 5:15 am |
  3. RomneyWho

    "I don't know, she just snapped," said a GOP aide.
    The women had the carriage to stand up and speak the truth about these "Sons of the Devil" and she was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. God, we have a problem. 🙁

    October 17, 2013 05:17 am at 5:17 am |
  4. Joxer the Mighty

    The 12 steppers define insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I think according to this definition the lady with the gavel is insane. Even after the stenographer was being escorted out she kept banging that gavel. Made me laugh.

    October 17, 2013 05:18 am at 5:18 am |
  5. Greg

    Love when people OD on Kool-aid.

    October 17, 2013 05:25 am at 5:25 am |
  6. ForReal

    God, I would snap too after being around these idiots. Probably worse than her.

    October 17, 2013 05:29 am at 5:29 am |
  7. Ronald Richards

    Wow they covered that up you can't even hear her mention the Freemasons the real story needs to come out

    October 17, 2013 05:41 am at 5:41 am |
  8. Doug

    God is my savior!
    God is my savior!
    God is my savior!
    God is my savior!

    October 17, 2013 05:42 am at 5:42 am |
  9. Lou50

    Seems reasonable a sane person would flip with the travesty dumped on the nations tax payers for generations to come till the country fails. This spending and Federal employment levels can not be sustained.

    October 17, 2013 05:44 am at 5:44 am |
  10. Gerb Hurler

    Well, it's now official. Everybody in that room is crazy.

    October 17, 2013 05:44 am at 5:44 am |
  11. Concerned

    Thankfully we have separation of church and State for a reason.

    October 17, 2013 05:45 am at 5:45 am |
  12. luckymax

    If I had to work with those folks, I would probably snap too!

    October 17, 2013 05:47 am at 5:47 am |
  13. Indie Hawk

    Makes you wonder.

    October 17, 2013 05:47 am at 5:47 am |
  14. Bobby J

    While she may have been wrong to take the podium it was inappropriate for anyone in the room who was not present to police the event to lay hands on her. I may not agree with her ideals, but she had spunk and at least for a moment got to fight her fight. She was much more pleasant than I would've been on that mic.

    October 17, 2013 05:47 am at 5:47 am |
  15. Mike

    Don't mix religion with politics. If you are truly religious or I should say righteous, you wouldn't be involved in politics anyway.

    October 17, 2013 05:54 am at 5:54 am |
  16. notogop

    I think she fits in rather well with the rest of the loonies in the House. I'm actually surprised she was escorted off stage. Her ranting wasn't that much different from their usual rhetoric. She probably learned by example. His august body is filled with artificial religious zealots.

    October 17, 2013 05:57 am at 5:57 am |
  17. Gumby

    Ah, religion. It's so good for mental health.

    October 17, 2013 05:58 am at 5:58 am |
  18. axx

    religious nut-bag!

    October 17, 2013 05:59 am at 5:59 am |
  19. Gary

    See what all the political posturing has done. It ook a sane Government employee and made them go Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs

    October 17, 2013 06:01 am at 6:01 am |
  20. LakeRat1

    If I had to listen to all those nut-job tea partyers day in and day out, I'd go over the edge too!

    October 17, 2013 06:02 am at 6:02 am |
  21. Nate

    I'll vote for her

    October 17, 2013 06:04 am at 6:04 am |
  22. Reality Check

    Wish her the best, but wonder if she was one of those essential employees asked to work for free while the millionaires around her were still getting paid a pretty hefty salary.

    October 17, 2013 06:04 am at 6:04 am |
  23. Not Surprised

    Working with those idiots was bound to drive someone crazy.

    October 17, 2013 06:09 am at 6:09 am |
  24. Jack

    It just might tell you something about the rest of the country, we are tried of the pettiness! The party that I been associated with all my life made a total and complete A$$ of themselves! And then to come out and say "we fought the good fight" is B.S.!

    Hillary Clinton is better by a long shot than any tea party republican donkey!

    October 17, 2013 06:14 am at 6:14 am |
  25. jason

    Sounds like she was just reciting one of the comments on a CNN article... about any topic

    October 17, 2013 06:14 am at 6:14 am |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44