On December 10, James McIntrye, a 33-year-old Illinois man and president of the Foster Care Alumni of America association in his state, was charged with assaulting South Carolina U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a vocal member of Congress who has recently positioned herself as a prominent figure in the right’s anti-transgender movement.
Of the incident, Mace stated in a few posts on her X (Twitter) account that she was accosted by a “pro-tr*ns man” (Mace will not use the written out word Trans) and that her injuries required a brace for her wrist and ice for her arm.
Mace’s pinned post reads: “I was physically accosted tonight on Capitol grounds over my fight to protect women. Capitol police have arrested him. All the violence and threats keep proving our point. Women deserve to be safe. Your threats will not stop my fight for women!”
Witnesses are disputing Mace’s interpretation of events.
Elliott Hinkle, a foster care advocate from Wyoming, told The Washington Post that he had been standing near McIntyre as Mace headed for the room’s exit after a reception celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999. In the interview with reporters, Hinkle said McIntyre reached out first with one hand, then went on to use both, shaking Mace’s hand after she offered hers.
“What we witnessed was a handshake, a passionate shake, but it didn’t look like an assault or intended aggression,” Hinkle recalled of that moment, adding that several other people were present and witnessed the encounter.
Hinkle also overheard McIntyre telling Mace: “Trans youth are also foster youth and they need your support.”
Lisa Dickson, an advocate for foster youth in Ohio that also attended the reception, expressed her frustration toward Mace over a series of public Facebook posts.
“I want to express deep disappointment in the fact that Congresswoman Nancy Mace came to a national foster youth event, told participating youth that it was a safe space, and literally had one of them arrested by Capital police for simply shaking her hand and asking about trans rights,” Dickson wrote.
Included in the incident report obtained by Charleston’s The Post and Courier, a witness told police the suspect “violently shook” the victim’s hand and made threats, but no details about the nature of the threats were disclosed in the police report.
A spokesperson for Mace declined to answer questions about the incident and the nature of the assault, instead pointing reporters to her posts on social media and the Capitol Police’s statement.
After being arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, McIntrye was released from jail, with the judge ordering the accused to stay away from Rep. Mace, refrain from possessing firearms, and only be in the District of Columbia for court-related matters. Pat Wamhoff, a progressive internet activist posted the following on social media in response to McIntyre’s arrest: “One must not advocate for trans youth in Trump’s new America because Mace had him arrested. He was held in police custody overnight and released Wednesday. This is the country we live in, folks.”
In the weeks leading up to the foster care reception, Mace has been flooding her social media with inflammatory posts about transgender people, accusing them of being “mentally ill” and defending her repeated use of a derogatory slur to refer to such individuals. Starting after calling for the U.S. House to block transgender people from using restrooms of their choice in the U.S. Capitol, she then filed a bill to ban transgender people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identities on all federal property.