Man arraigned in case of impersonating Rep. Kingston

Walter Nelson Lewis, 26, was arraigned Wednesday in D.C. District Court on charges of possessing a congressional lapel pin that doesn’t belong to him. 

The charges stem from Nelson’s arrest last month by U.S. Capitol Police for impersonating Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), a ruse made all the more convincing by the fact he was wearing an authentic congressional lapel pin.

The original incident occurred on Nov. 17 at approximately 1 a.m., according to police reports and an affidavit obtained by ITK. Officers were initially dispatched in response to a call about an assault on a member of Congress.

Once they arrived at the 100 block of D Street NE, the suspect said he was Kingston. According to the police report, the Capitol Police watch commander quickly assessed that the man was not, in fact, the 55-year-old congressman.

The suspect then apparently changed his story, and told police that the pin, which allows members of Congress to bypass security when entering the Capitol, belonged to a deceased uncle. The police report listed the value of the pin at $4.33, which should put to rest any speculation that the gold color on the pins is real gold.

Kingston was aware of the incident, and told ITK on Tuesday that the pin in question was not his.

He declined to comment further about the incident, except to joke, “Given congressional approval ratings these days, I honestly can’t imagine who would want to impersonate a member of Congress.”

A spokeswoman for the Capitol Police had no further comment.

In the meantime, ITK is hot on the case of finding out whose congressional pin Lewis was wearing.

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