State Rep. Kevin Boyle (D-Philadelphia) has been arrested on charges of harassment and violating a protection from abuse order, according to breaking news reports.
Boyle was released Saturday without having to post bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Boyle — a six-term representative — was arrested Friday, the Inquirer said. The arrest reportedly comes just after Boyle’s recent removal from his position as House Finance Committee chairman, according to a Spotlight PA report.
Boyle responded to his removal by saying Democratic House leaders were given “incorrect information about me” over the summer.
“I’m not fully certain what their thinking is,” he said in an interview with PennLive of leadership’s recent moves.
Boyle said when he arrived at the Capitol this week, he could not enter except through public entrances, which are manned by Capitol Police and require visitors to pass through a metal detector.
The move to sideline an elected official of their own party is one that legislative leaders have used sparingly. When it has happened in the past, it’s almost always been used either punitively — to punish a lawmaker who has angered leadership — or because of a personnel issue involving the lawmaker.
Boyle has been dealing with unspecified personal issues in recent months, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported.
The House Democrats and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office declined to provide comment for the Capital-Star report.
The Inquirer reported Kevin Boyle’s brother, U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, is in his fourth term representing Philadelphia and could be considering a role in the Biden Administration as special envoy to Northern Ireland.
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