Mace said then that a “pro-tr*ns man” had “physically accosted her” and they were subsequently arrested by Capitol Police. It was revealed in a police report that a man named James McIntyre allegedly approached her for a handshake, “took her hand with both of his hands and shook her arm up and down in an exaggerated, aggressive hand shaking motion.”

Mace said she sustained injuries from the incident and wore a sling on her arm the next day. The incident rose to the attention of President-elect Donald Trump, who reportedly called Mace to check up on her.

However, the foster advocacy group leader, Elliott Hinkle, who is reportedly transgender, said the incident was not as the report described, and they were shocked to see McIntyre arrested. Mace is one of the co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth.

“What we witnessed was a handshake, a passionate shake, but it didn’t look like an assault or intended aggression,” Hinkle said, according to the Washington Post, adding that several people also saw the encounter. They said McIntyre told Mace, “Trans youth are also foster youth, and they need your support.”

Hinkle said that McIntyre approached Mace at the end of the event, and that “her face when she first saw him appeared welcoming.” After the handshake, McIntyre returned to his seat and Mace left.

A short time later, Hinkle said, an aide approached McIntyre and asked for his name and what message he had. He repeated what he told Mace and the aide left.

Police later contacted McIntyre after he had left the reception and once he returned, arrested him. He was held overnight at a Washington, D.C., jail complex before Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond released him from custody with orders to not contact Mace again, adding that he could only return to Washington, D.C., for court matters.

Mace’s team has rejected that the incident was overblown.

“The Congresswoman is in pain this morning, with her arm in a sling, but she’s otherwise doing well—just shaken up,” a Mace spokesperson told the Hill. “What’s even more disheartening is watching the Left and their media allies deny this even happened, propping up misogyny instead of condemning violence.”

Mace posted on X on Wednesday, saying, “Maybe when the Left said ‘believe all women,’ they really meant men who claim to be women.”