Witness disputes Nancy Mace's claim that she was 'accosted' by a pro-transgender activist

A witness to Tuesday's incident between South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace and a pro-transgender activist has come forward to dispute the interaction, claiming the incident looked like a regular handshake.

Mace claimed that she was "physically accosted" by a pro-transgender man on Tuesday night, which took place at a foster care youth advocacy event. Mace's account of the interaction led to an arrest of the Illinois activist for assaulting a government official.

Witness Elliott Hinkle, who is transgender, came forward with his account of the incident to The Hill, and claimed the suspect, James McIntyre, was just shaking Mace's hand and told her that transgender youth in foster care also need support.

“As she went to leave the room, James met her by the door where people could see her and him to say, ‘trans youth are in foster care and they need your support,’ and gave a handshake and then walked back to his seat and sat down,” Hinkle said. “It seemed a pretty normal interaction from those of us who witnessed it.”

Hinkle added that a staffer for the congresswoman came back into the room after she left to get McIntyre's name.

Capitol Police confirmed that it had arrested McIntyre and said it takes threats and the protection of members of Congress "seriously." 

Mace claimed on her personal X account on Tuesday that the incident resulted in an injury to her wrist and arm, which "ice" and a "brace" would fix. But she told Capitol Police that was experiencing pain in her wrists, arm, and armpit/shoulder after the incident, according to the police report.

The police report also confirms that the incident in question was a handshake, but had a more aggressive description of it.

“The victim [Mace] offered their right hand to the individual to shake hands, and upon their hands coming together, the individual place their other hand on top of the victim’s hand in a clasping manner so that the victim’s hand was between both of the subject’s hands," the report said, per The Hill. "The victim stated that the subject began to aggressively and in an exaggerated manner shake her arm up and down in a hand shaking motion. The effect of the motion was described as her arm flailing for about 3-5 seconds."

The report said Mace told police that she tried to pull away from the activist during the interaction and told him such, but was not successful.

McIntyre, who was charged with assaulting a government official, has pleaded not guilty to the crime.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.