Bow before him, or face the wrath of guys with guns
February 2, 2006 9:06 AM   Subscribe

As you may know, Cindy Sheehan was arrested at the SOTU speech, for wearing a shirt that said "2245 Dead. How many more?" She's not alone in being arrested for silently expressing sentiments against the current regime. Today, The Capitol Police are dropping all charges against Sheehan because, as they admit, they never should have removed or arrested her because she broke no laws or rules.
posted by dejah420 (29 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: please copy and paste into open thread, thank you.



 
They also dropped charges against some congressman's wife, who got in trouble on the same night for wearing a pro-war shirt.
posted by unreason at 9:07 AM on February 2, 2006


NO GLITCHES IN THE MATRIX ALLOWED, BITCHES.
Get that woman off the set!
posted by digaman at 9:09 AM on February 2, 2006


Oops, there should have been a link that was a shout out to Glenn Greenwald, a First Amendment attorney, who has been tracking a lot of abuses of civil liberties by this administration, and from whom I first heard about the capital police admitting that Mrs. Sheehan did nothing illegal.
posted by dejah420 at 9:10 AM on February 2, 2006


BAD FASHION SENSE IS TREASON
posted by Rothko at 9:10 AM on February 2, 2006


(taps foot impatiently, waiting for dios to appear)
posted by alumshubby at 9:11 AM on February 2, 2006


This seems to be the standard practice around here--arrest anyone with a dirty look on their faces, remove them from the event, then drop charges later.
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:14 AM on February 2, 2006


They also dropped charges against some congressman's wife, who got in trouble on the same night for wearing a pro-war shirt.

Actually, Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young (R-Fla.), was never arrested (as was Sheehan) -- only removed from the chambers:
""Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida — chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee — was removed from the gallery because she was wearing a T-shirt that read, 'Support the Troops — Defending Our Freedom.'

The Capitol Police official said officers never should have approached Young." [source]
BTW -- check out the previous Sheehan thread for discussion of the incident and the "We Screwed Up!" account by the Capitol Police.
posted by ericb at 9:15 AM on February 2, 2006


They also dropped charges against some congressman's wife, who got in trouble on the same night for wearing a pro-war shirt. - unreason

The congress critter's wife was never arrested or charged with anything.
posted by dejah420 at 9:15 AM on February 2, 2006


unreason, the Congressman's wife was not arrested or charged. She was simply told that her t-shirt was not allowed because it was a "protest," and escorted out of the venue.
posted by rxrfrx at 9:16 AM on February 2, 2006


Did they ever charge the congressman's wife?

As much as I might agree with her message, I don't think the SOU speech is an appropriate venue for such garb.
posted by caddis at 9:16 AM on February 2, 2006


scooped.
posted by rxrfrx at 9:16 AM on February 2, 2006


Bush's War on T-shirts.
posted by ericb at 9:16 AM on February 2, 2006


They also dropped charges against some congressman's wife, who got in trouble on the same night for wearing a pro-war shirt.

They didn't drop charges against the congressman's wife because she wasn't arrested - only removed to a hallway. To be arrested, you have to do something contrary to Dubya.
posted by jperkins at 9:17 AM on February 2, 2006


Jest for the record, the congressman's wife wasn't arrested or charged with anything. She was removed from the premises. (Not that her removal was appropriate, either.)

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0206/299401.html
posted by diastematic at 9:17 AM on February 2, 2006


Really wish I'd checked preview before posting that.
posted by jperkins at 9:17 AM on February 2, 2006


Just for the record, the congressman's wife is now more popular on this thread than Cindy Sheehan. And I am part of the problem.

(Wow, threads spreadin' like-a-wilefire round here.)
posted by diastematic at 9:18 AM on February 2, 2006


BTW -- check out the previous Sheehan thread for discussion of the incident and the "We Screwed Up!" account by the Capitol Police. - ericb

Darn, with the live preview, I always forget to check the "real" preview...and I apologize for not adding this to an existing thread. I must have missed it entirely.
posted by dejah420 at 9:19 AM on February 2, 2006


So what happened with the Congressman's wife, again? Six responses in two minutes -- the trigger finger's awfully itchy on that point.
posted by pardonyou? at 9:22 AM on February 2, 2006


BAD FASHION SENSE IS TREASON

*runs for the hills*
posted by jonmc at 9:24 AM on February 2, 2006


Isn't this womans 15 minutes up by now? Surely she must have enough for a book or tv movie deal by now.
posted by a3matrix at 9:30 AM on February 2, 2006


U.S. Capitol Police Chief Gainer claimed that, "The policy and procedures were too vague," but they seem pretty clear to me (my emphasis):
A 1946 law prohibits demonstrations within any of the Capitol buildings. But a subsequent U.S. Capitol Police Board regulation clarified "demonstration activity" to include "parading, picketing, speechmaking, holding vigils, sit-ins, or other expressive conduct ... but does not include merely wearing Tee-shirts, buttons or other similar articles of apparel that convey a message."
If I'm reading this correctly, in May 2002 the U.S. DC Circuit Court of Appeals found the regulation to be unconsitutional.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:33 AM on February 2, 2006


No shit, jon, I'm in trouble!

Puts that last thread's in an interesting light...
posted by teece at 9:33 AM on February 2, 2006


.... 15 minutes ....

A meme which exhausted it's 15 minutes about 25 years ago.
posted by lodurr at 9:38 AM on February 2, 2006


But hey, mission accomplished. Cameras couldn't cut to her during the speech.

As for the Congressman's wife, that happened 40 minutes into the speech, and she was told it was because they had already removed Sheehan and it would look bad if they didn't remove her as well.
posted by Happy Monkey at 9:38 AM on February 2, 2006


Maybe they should just have a special "Chilling Effect" division to handle these cases...
posted by klangklangston at 9:40 AM on February 2, 2006



It's nice they dropped the charges and all, but a little late since the event is over.

Let the clock start ticking for some anonymous source to come forward and reveal there was GOP pressure to remove her from the event. I don't presume the Police were acting independently.
posted by fluffycreature at 9:42 AM on February 2, 2006


and I apologize for not adding this to an existing thread.

dejah420: that thread had already reached 500 comments! I think it was a good idea to post the update and all the links separately.
posted by funambulist at 9:44 AM on February 2, 2006


Rep. Bill Young (R-FL) believes Capitol police clearly “acted precipitously” by removing his wife from Bush’s SOTU, but according to the Post, “wouldn’t be so mad if it were just [Cindy] Sheehan” because he “totally disagree[s] with everything she stands for.”
posted by ericb at 9:45 AM on February 2, 2006


Oh, the irony!
posted by ericb at 9:45 AM on February 2, 2006


« Older Intimate reading - corset books   |   It's the like the Jetsons! Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments