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.
Of course if Mr. Pinochet of Chile had been here this would have been encouraged and not prosecuted.
Good question. It was your sick scenario, I await your answer...
I really don't buy that arugement. The president is burned in effigy every time he goes on a trip and possibly more than that. It comes with the territory of being CIC. Free Speech is exactly that--even if it is painful or akward. I am supremely disappointed in the President. He is not the man I thought he was.
Good question. It was your sick scenario, I await your answer...
All right, since you have deferred to me to answer my own question, I will....
Because the desired goal is worth it, and because we have at our disposal diplomatic bargaining chips that could be offered up in exchange for what we desire. A deal that the Chinese could promote as being a tradeoff for their capitulation that results in being beneficial to them could very realistically be worked out. As long as the taint of perceived caving to protests on the Chinese government's part isn't a factor, that is.
Free Wang Wenyi!
"...with the cameraman soothing her."
That cameraman was desperately trying to get her to shut the heck up.
President Bush should give this Person(Heckler) the Medal of honor for what she did at that staged affaire at the White House.President Bush should be embarrassed to have invited the Chinese leader to the White House.
Does anyone think google is blocking stories of Wang Wenyi?
Try a search for her name first in google, then compare to a search on ask.com.
No mention at all of the White House incident from google.
Nope - there are 304 Google hits so far: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22Wang+Wenyi%22
Frankly, I'm not in favor of using a gathering like this to heckle a guest; I hate it when people do it to our people, and I probably wouldn't do it myself.
But then, again, "threatening the President of China"; could there be anything cooler than that on your resume?
She should be charged with disorderly conduct and the judge should throw it out. And her friends should treat her to beer and pizza; they should have the warrant framed and hung up on the wall. I would be more proud of that than any degree.
From your keyboard to G-d's flat-screen display!
And whose days are not numbered? Better to count them and cherish each one, and by the count to motivate one to rightful actions.
All I can say is, wish she didn't say that. They wouldn't have anything at all against her.
I'd reccommend doing some reading on our reaction to the Stamp Act, or to the seizure of Hancock's ship "Liberty". Given that by that time British officials operating outside the review of colonial legislatures may be counted as foreign officials, the lessons of our Founding are most applicable here.
LOL! You set the whole straw-man up, why shouldn't you answer to it?
Because the desired goal is worth it, ...
Why is it "worth it"?
Because if we don't appear to sufficiently apologize and throw a little woman with nothing more than a banner and some words in jail because you felt, ahem, "threatened" you're going to send a present of human livers and attempt to place the blame for that package on us?
Why should we kowtow to your blackmail?
Just some additional information here but Wang Wenyi is not an accredited journalist but a pathologist affiliated with The Epoch Times.
Second comment, her tirade went on for several minutes before the secret service dragged her out. "Stop persecuting Falun Gong" and "Your days are numbered" were the least of what she said. In between was the standard litany of Falun Dafa/Epoch Times talking points, Falun Dafa Hao! (Falun Dafa is great/good), heavenly retribution, resign from the communist party, etc.
"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"
Ok -- this is a little crazy even for my tastes...
I've seen outrage on this issue from both sides. As As weak as the left is, they do seem to have an interest in individual civil liberty issues. I think (hopefully)the media will continue to cover this, especially since it has an added bonus to them - it makes Bush look bad.
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