A man has been arrested and Nancy Mace is wearing a wrist brace and shoulder sling after the South Carolina congresswoman said she was “physically attacked” in a Capitol office building Tuesday afternoon.

Mace said she was “physically attacked at the Capitol” by “a pro-Tr*n man.”

“A new brace for my wrist and some ice for my arm and it will heal just fine,” Mace wrote on X. “Your violence and threats against my life will only make me give in again.”

Mace spent much of Tuesday afternoon portraying the incident as a vicious attack by a pro-trans advocate, but people who allegedly witnessed her interaction with the alleged attacker tell a very different story.

According to people who spoke to The Imprint — a nonprofit news outlet that focuses on child welfare, juvenile justice and other issues affecting America’s youth — the participants were at an event marking the 25th anniversary of Foster Care Independence Act shocked by the arrest of James McIntyre, an award-winning advocate for foster youth, shortly after he left the Rayburn House office building near the Capitol.

Three attendees told The Imprint that McIntyre, 33, did nothing more than shake Mace’s hand and exchange a few words. Mace is co-chair of the Bipartisan Care Caucus and spoke at the event.

Elliott Hinkle, an advocate for LGBTQ youth rights, told The Imprint that McIntyre shook Mace’s hand and made a comment that the many transgender youth in foster care “need your support.”

“From what I saw, it was a normal handshake and interaction that I would expect from any representative as a constituent,” Hinkle said, adding that a Mace aide later tracked down McIntyre and asked his name, to repeat his comments to the representative. Two other witnesses corroborated his description of events.

The Washington Post also reported on the interaction. “What we saw was a handshake, a passionate shaking, but it didn’t look like an attack or intentional aggression,” Hinkle told the outlet.

McIntyre was arrested shortly after leaving the building and charged with assault on a government official.

Lisa Dickson, a longtime foster youth advocate who also attended the event, wrote on Facebook that she was deeply disappointed that Congresswoman Nancy Mace came to a “national foster youth event” and told the youth in attendance that it was a safe place “One of them was arrested by the capital police because she simply shook her hand and asked about the rights of transsexuals.”

In a separate post, Dickson wrote that the event was “neither the day nor the time for a self-serving publicity stunt – especially not for a politician lashing out at a vulnerable young person who simply took her at her word when she was in foster care.” helped.” “All suggestions are welcome.”

Mace, who once described herself as a “transgender rights advocate,” made headlines last month after introducing legislation that would ban transgender lawmakers and Capitol staff from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. The ploy clearly targeted new Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first transgender lawmaker ever elected to Congress.

The South Carolina representative has been heavily involved in anti-trans culture war grievance policy in recent weeks. Since the bathroom bill was introduced, she has been posting incessantly under the hashtag “HoldTheLine,” abusing transgender people and their advocates, hanging “BIOLOGICAL” newspapers over women’s restroom signs in the Capitol, and accusing transgender people of being mentally ill.

Last week, Mace borrowed a megaphone from another congressional office to shout a Miranda warning to what she called “tr***y” protesters who opposed her bathroom bill.

On Wednesday, Mace arrived at the Capitol wearing a wrist brace and a sling to immobilize her arm. “This is what the left is doing to women,” she wrote in a post on X.

In another post, Mace thanked President-elect Donald Trump for calling to check on her. “Once the pain and pain subside, I will be fine,” she wrote. “January 20th can’t come soon enough.”