Local Man Interupts Sotomayor Hearing!
Posted by iusbvision on July 14, 2009
Andrew Beacham is fast becoming a legendary protester. He is an acquaintance of mine and I am very proud of him!
WASHINGTON (AP) — Anti-abortion protesters briefly disrupted Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination hearing on several occasions Monday.
The first outburst came during Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s opening statement. A man in the back of the room interrupted her remarks by shouting: “Senator. What about the unborn!” He called abortion “genocide.
Capitol Police identified the first protester as Robert James, from Virginia, and the second as Andrew Beacham of Indiana. Both were charged with unlawful conduct-disruption of Congress. Police did not provide their hometowns.
Security quickly removed both protesters. Sotomayor turned her head briefly toward her family and friends seated in the front row as the first protester was taken away and his shouts faded.
The initial episode prompted a warning by committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy that no displays for or against the nominee would be tolerated from observers. That didn’t stop further outbursts in the afternoon. One demonstrator shouted, “Abortion is murder. Defend life,” interrupting a statement by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
The protester added a few words in Spanish before he was hustled outside by Capitol police officers.
During Minnesota Sen. Al Franken’s statement, a woman shouted “wrong about abortion” and exited on her own. Another demonstrator had his say before being taken out.
