Posted on 04/21/2006 12:39:37 PM PDT by Jack Black
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A heckler from the Falun Gong spiritual movement who disrupted a White House appearance by Chinese President Hu Jintao was charged in federal court on Friday with harassing, intimidating or threatening a foreign official.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington said the misdemeanor charge carries a penalty of up to six months in jail.
The woman, who entered the White House grounds as a reporter, interrupted a formal arrival ceremony between Hu and President George W. Bush on Thursday and shouted: "President Hu, your days are numbered. President Bush, make him stop persecuting Falun Gong."
The embarrassing episode marred the South Lawn event and created a diplomatic stir. Bush personally apologized to Hu for the incident.
U.S. officials identified the woman as Wang Wenyi, 47, a reporter with The Epoch Times, an English-language publication strongly supportive of the meditation movement that is banned in China.
Spokesman Channing Phillips said she was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service and that the U.S. Attorney's office decided to proceed by filing the federal charge in court.
The law at issue bars harassing, intimidating or threatening a foreign official in the performance of their official duties.
When she was arrested, the heckler was charged with disorderly conduct. The spokesman said that charge, under local law, could be brought later.
LOL! Rush does have style...no doubt about it.
You're one sick pup there.
If you set that scenario up as a possible course of reaction to heckling (killing a batch of people for their livers), not only didn't pride kill but, why should we as a country deal with an asshole like you?
"And you'll fart the Communist Manifesto"
The only form of flatulence that doesn't cause global warming, no doubt.
"your days are numbered" could mean any number of things from "I'm going to kill you" (highly unlikely from a little old lady) to "we will oust you from your position" to "some day you won't be around any more". Unless she was brandishing a weapon, I don't see it as a threat.
Well according to Clinton-speak any word can mean anything you want. "your days are numbered" is a classic statement and we all know what it means. Whether she meant it or not I can't say since I can't get inside her head. She was clearly nuts.
So what if pride didn't really kill them? The result is you lost the chance to persuade a foreign government to change policy. And you have zero chance of doing it in the future, whether it is you or them that refuses to talk.
Do you think the protester's message was for either President Bush or Hu? Think again. They were both already quite aware of the issue. No, her goal was to hijack the event as a PR stunt. And while she attained her goal of getting it in the news, she damaged her own cause in the process. The Chinese government will never change policy if the perception is they did it in response to protests. The only chance is if a solution can be worked out that lets them initiate the change under the pretense of their own best interests. However, activists regardless of their cause rarely take this into account in their quest to 'piss people off into submission'.
Unworthy is the perfect adjective. Is that very far from a similar attempt to prosecute a fervently dissenting editorial or severely critical book of this ''superlative''president?
A foreign government that would gift wrap a batch of human livers as a present to you?
How would a foreign government that would do something like that be persuaded to change any policy?
BOOS ET AL. v. BARRY, MAYOR OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
No. 86-803.
Justice O'Connor:
See, e. g., 118 Cong. Rec. 27112-27113 (1972). At the same time, the history reflects a substantial concern with the effect of any such legislation on First Amendment freedoms. For example, the original provision contained a prohibition on willful acts or attempts to "intimidate, coerce, threaten, or harass . . . or obstruct a foreign official," as does the current version of 112. In a portion with similarities to the display clause, however, it also punished anyone who
"parades, pickets, displays any flag, banner, sign, placard, or device, or utters any word, phrase, sound, or noise, for the purpose of intimidating, coercing, threatening, or harassing any foreign official or obstructing him in the performance of his duties." Act for Protection of Foreign Official Guests of the United States, Pub. L. 92-539, Title III, 301(c)(1), 86 Stat. 1070, 1073 (1972).
Concerned with the effects that such a provision might have on First Amendment freedoms, the Senate added a new subsection, which directed:
"[N]othing contained in this section shall be construed or applied so as to abridge the exercise of rights guaranteed under the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States." 301(e), 86 Stat. 1073.
The prosecution of Wang Wenyi promises to be difficult.
The charges should be dropped.
Obviously the federal government considers this a much more dangerous crime than illegal entry through our borders, SS fraud, welfare fraud and documents forgery that every illegal worker is doing now.
Thank you for posting my thoughts Centurion.
She should not be made to pay for a failed security check.
She was admitted to the Rose garden, and as such has first amendment rights if she is a US citizen. As a pubbie I am glad she spoke up, and double glad because she was morally right to do so. Often these affairs are over saving the whales , etc, but this one was genuine speech stating what our government cannot, as it tries to woo China onto the US side, re: Iran.
Thanks for noticing.
A lot of people think only the loyal opposition can be the object of free speech. If Bush is for it, who can be against it?
============================================
Fulongong = Alqueda to you?
So why bother even trying, right?
I must say, I was disappointed in the President.
President Reagan would have smiled, said something about this being America , land of free speech,, then apologized to the Premier for the interruption of his speech, and continued on. The heckler would have been escorted off the White House grounds, issue over.
So much for all the media attention to the "free speech" rights of Americans vs. China's communist human rights violation government.
They sure look pretty similar now.
Hu also knows that the American Left loves to silence opinions that they don't like--and loves tyrannical dictators--and loves brutal, oppressive, totalitarian regimes--and that the Left controls the Democrat Party, the "Mainstream Newsmedia", Hollywood, and academia. I'm sure Hu's had many a chuckle lately.
I agree with you. But heaven forbid we upset one of or major "trade partners".
I wonder if the old soviet leadership ever got verbal insults while visiting here. My bet is they did.
can you provide a link?? I had not heard that yet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.