Capitol Staffer Drops Complaint Over Alleged Shove

A legislative staffer has agreed not to pursue his complaint against Assemblyman Roderick Wright (D-Los Angeles) for allegedly shoving the staffer against a wall and threatening him during an argument over a bill, parties to the dispute said Tuesday.

Longtime Capitol staffer Geoff Long, a consultant for the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and Wright, a freshman from South-Central elected in 1996, have agreed to put the matter behind them, said Assemblyman Don Perata (D-Alameda), who mediated the dispute.

Long, and a witness to the incident who works with Long, had complained to the Assembly Rules Committee that Wright pushed him by the shoulders against a wall in a Capitol corridor and ordered Long to “shut up, or I’ll break your [expletive] jaw.”

Wright confirmed Tuesday that the disagreement has been settled. “Nobody got hit, nobody bled,” Wright said. He added that Long was “under the impression I said something I didn’t.”

“It happened, period,” replied Long. He said he and Wright had met with Perata and that he is ready “to move on.”

Perata, chairman of the Assembly Rules Committee, to which Long brought his complaint after the incident on Jan. 28, also said that the matter was closed.

He said Wright and Long “shook hands” at a recent meeting arranged by Perata.

The argument stemmed from amendments made by the Appropriations Committee staff to a gun safety bill that Wright had introduced. Wright was unhappy with the changes made by the committee, Long said.