A District man who told police he was a member of Congress during an incident near the U.S. Capitol has been charged with illegal possession of a congressional lapel pin.
The charges filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday stem from a bizarre encounter with police last month.
Around 1 a.m. Nov. 17, U.S. Capitol Police were called to the 100 block of Independence Avenue SE for a report of an assault on a member of Congress, court documents said.
When police arrived, they were met by a man, later identified as 26-year-old Walter Nelson Lewis Jr., who claimed to be U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga.
Lewis told police that he observed the tag number of the getaway car, but no listing was found when officers ran a check of the license number, police said.
Lewis told the officers that the assault occurred at 217 Maryland Ave. NE, in front of Capitol Lounge, but when pressed he said he was not hurt in any way and said the assailants actually never touched him.
He told the officers that he had no identification on him. When police asked him about the congressional lapel pin, he claimed it was given to him by an uncle who was a member of Congress who had passed away.
Once police confirmed that Lewis was not who he said he was, he was arrested for unlawful possession of a United States Badge or Insignia, a crime that is punishable by a fine or up to six months in jail.
The lapel pin is issued to members of Congress to bypass security when entering any Congressional building, and police later confirmed that the pin was authentic and Lewis was not authorized to have one.
Lewis could not be reached Tuesday. According to a story in Roll Call, Lewis claimed on his Facebook profile that he used to work for Fox News and "The Laura Ingraham Show" and said his current job is as a features writer for Rolling Stone. An online search Tuesday revealed no Rolling Stone stories written by Lewis.
