'Peace mom' cuffed in House chamber
Peace activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Tuesday just minutes before the State of the Union address.WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Peace activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Tuesday in the House chamber after she unfurled an anti-war banner just minutes before President Bush gave his State of the Union address.
Capitol police arrested Sheehan and questioned her for about an hour in a separate area of the House, a senior House official said.
Sheehan, who became a vocal war opponent after her son was killed in Iraq, was an invited guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-California, who has called for a withdrawal of troops in Iraq and supports legislation for the creation of a Department of Peace.
Sheehan has pestered the Bush administration since August, when she and hundreds of fellow protesters began demanding an audience with the president and camping outside his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
She also recently penned a book, "Not One More Mother's Child."
Sheehan and other relatives of troops killed in Iraq met with Bush during a visit to Fort Lewis, Washington, in April 2004, shortly after Sheehan's son was killed.
During that meeting with Bush, the president refused to look at pictures of Sheehan's son, didn't want to hear about him and "didn't even know Casey's name," she said.
The Vacaville, California, resident has said she'd like to meet with Bush again to discuss her opposition to the war.
Bush has refused to meet again with Sheehan and has taken issue with her calls for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
"She expressed her opinion; I disagree with it," Bush said in August. "I think immediate withdrawal from Iraq would be a mistake."
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