DO YOU THINK THIS WILL AFFECT HIS POLITICAL CAREER?
Note: The Insite spoke to Mr. Miles about these allegations early Saturday morning and he says at this time he's been advised not to make any statements. But Miles says he will eventually tell his side of the story and the Insite will bring you the details!
The Harris County District Attorney's Office is investigating a complaint that state Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, made threats and brandished a gun at a holiday party last month.
According to witnesses, Miles entered a St. Regis Hotel ballroom uninvited, confronting guests, displaying a pistol and forcibly kissing another man's wife.
David Harris, who threw the party for his property management company, said he believes Miles, an insurance agent, was angry at him for investing in a rival business.
"He was saying things such as, 'I told you to get out of the insurance business. There ain't room in this town for the two of us. I'm going to come after you and take you down,' " Harris said.
The District Attorney's Office received a written complaint about the incident and is investigating, but officials declined to comment further.
Messages left at Miles' government and insurance offices were not returned Friday.
Rumors about the incident have swirled for weeks in both Houston and Austin. Harris agreed to speak publicly about it last month only after being contacted by the Houston Chronicle. It was not until Friday, however, that the District Attorney's Office confirmed the investigation.
Miles is being challenged in the March 4 Democratic primary for District 146 by former Rep. Al Edwards, whom Miles unseated in 2006.
If the accounts from witnesses are true, it would be the second incident involving a pistol and Miles.
Last July, Miles shot and wounded a burglar who police said was trying to steal copper from the lawmaker's 9,000- square-foot Third Ward home. Miles, who had a concealed handgun permit and was not charged in the incident, said the shooting was self-defense.
"When he is out and about in public, especially in the district, which is a rough area, he carries a gun with him as a matter of principle," a Miles spokesman, Donald Fields, said at the time.
Miles also gained some notoriety last spring when he personally removed two pieces of art on display at the Capitol that he said were objectionable. The art in an exhibit placed by the Texas Moratorium Network included a depiction of a black man hanging from a rope and an illustration of a man tied to an electric chair with the inscription "Doing God's Work."
According to witnesses to the December incident, Miles walked into the ballroom carrying a wine bottle and a glass.
During their confrontation, Harris said Miles proclaimed himself a "gangster" and "thug," before kissing Harris on both cheeks and then the mouth. Miles then pulled out a gun and placed it in Harris' hand, witnesses said.
"He was acting as if there was some sort of symbolic power struggle, grabbing him by the face," said Nathaniel Rido, who attended the party.
Rido said Miles also kissed his wife, Krysynthia, before leaving, an act that still angers him.
"A public official, acting like that — I was disturbed," he said.
Miles also said at the party that he would "take down" U.S. Congressman Al Green, former local NAACP leader Howard Jefferson and Ben Hall, the city attorney under Mayor Bob Lanier. Hall is representing Harris.
''He disrespected me, he disrespected my guests," Harris said. "This is totally unacceptable."
HE SAYS HE WANTED TO GET REVENGE FOR HIS DAUGHTER!
