The South Dakota House Representatives are creating a committee to investigate an incident between two Rapid City representatives.
The committee on discipline and expulsion is investigating the actions of Representative David Johnson towards another, female, representative.
Representative Johnson says his emotions got the best of him. Before representatives voted on an investigative committee, Johnson issued an apology on the house floor...
“The other day here on the floor I made a big mistake. I confess to that. My emotions, my passion, go back and listen. I was… it got the better of me, okay?” Johnson says. “I made unfair statements to somebody in the past who has been a good friend.”
Johnson apologized directly to Rapid City Representative Lynne DiSanto during his speech.
The Speaker of the House blocked media requests for a comment from Johnson on the House floor following adjournment.
Johnson sharply opposed DiSanto’s bill, House Bill 1287, which allows for out-of-state individual insurance. He was concerned with how the bill reached the floor, and what the bill does.
Representative Dan Kaiser brought the motion for an investigation. He says the altercation happened on Wednesday after the house adjourned. He says he spoke to both the victim and two witnesses.
“The victim said a lot of yelling a screaming took place,” Kaiser says. “Backed her up. She felt very uncomfortable. She felt like she was going to be assaulted. One of the witnesses stepped in, and said he placed his hand on the representative and escorted him off. The reason he did that was because he was afraid of escalation. And I specifically asked, ‘What do you mean by escalation?’ Well, it could get physical.”
A 9-member committee of representatives will investigate the incident. There are two weeks of session left.