- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The
US Capitol Police dropped charges against activist Cindy Sheehan on Wednesday
and apologized for arresting her in the House of Representatives chamber
shortly before President Bush's State of the Union address.
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- Sheehan, who became a central
figure in the U.S. anti-war movement after her son Casey was killed in
the Iraq war, was taken from the Capitol in handcuffs and charged with
unlawful conduct after refusing to cover an anti-war slogan on her T-shirt.
-
- The Capitol Police said in a
statement that it had reviewed the incident and determined the arrest was
unwarranted.
-
- "While officers acted in
a manner consistent with the rules of decorum enforced by the department
in the House Gallery for years, neither Mrs. Sheehan's manner of dress
or initial conduct warranted law enforcement intervention," the statement
said.
-
- Capitol Police Chief Terrance
Gainer also apologized to the wife of a House Republican who was told to
leave the chamber during Bush's speech for wearing a shirt bearing words
of support for U.S. troops.
-
- Rep. Bill Young of Florida had
condemned the treatment of his wife, Beverly. Young, who chairs the House
Appropriations defense subcommittee, said on the House floor his wife was
called "a demonstrator and a protester" for doing what Bush had
asked of Americans: supporting U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq.
-
- The Capitol Police statement
said neither guest should have been confronted about her expressive T-shirt.
-
- "The officers made a good
faith, but mistaken, effort to enforce an old unwritten interpretation
of the prohibitions about demonstrating in the Capitol. The policy and
procedures were too vague," Gainer said. "The failure to adequately
prepare the officers is mine."
-
- Sheehan, who won wide attention
with an anti-war vigil outside Bush's Texas ranch, was attending the speech
as the guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a California Democrat.
-
- In a speech on the House floor,
Woolsey said Sheehan wore a shirt that highlighted the number of dead U.S.
soldiers in Iraq. "Since when is free speech conditional on whether
you agree with the president of the United States?" Woolsey asked.
-
- "How can we claim to be
fighting on behalf of freedom around the world, making the world safe for
freedom when we are smothering freedom here at home?" she said.
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- The Capitol Police department
said it would ask the U.S. attorney's office not to pursue the unlawful
conduct charge against Sheehan. The charge carries a maximum sentence of
one year in prison.
-
- Sheehan and other activists were
arrested in September for protesting outside the White House without a
permit, a misdemeanor that carriers a $50 fine.
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