Protester Disrupts Hu Arrival Ceremony (with VIDEO)

[kpete]

Protester Disrupts Hu Arrival Ceremony 16 minutes ago
NBC VIDEO AT: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12404061/
WASHINGTON - The arrival ceremony for Hu Jintao was interrupted by a protester who appealed to President Bush to stop the Chinese president from "persecuting the Falon Gong."


The woman began shouting from the top of a camera stand that was located directly in front of the two leaders so that news photographers could record the arrival ceremony on the south lawn of the White House.

She shouted in heavily accented English, "President Bush: Stop him from killing" and, "President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong."

Bush, standing next to Hu, leaned over and whispered a comment to the Chinese leader, who paused briefly when the shouting began and then resumed his remarks.

The protester was waving a banner with the red and yellow colors used by Falun Gong, a banned religious movement in China. She kept shouting for several minutes before Secret Service uniformed agents were able to make their way to her position at the top of the camera stand. They dragged her off the stand.

A photographer who was standing next to the protester tried momentarily to quiet her by putting his hand in front of her mouth.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060420/ap_on_go_ot/hu_protester_1

[file83]

1. From Drudge: China TV went to black when protester became audible!

From Drudge's current headline:

FLASH: Heckler disrupts Chinese President Hu's speech on south lawn at White House: 'President Bush, stop him from killing'... 'Stop persecuting the Falun Gong,' she yelled... She also shouted in Chinese, 'President Hu, your days are numbered'... woman is taken away by uniformed secret service officers... right after Bush urged Hu to allow Chinese to 'speak freely'...

On China TV: As Hu Jintao was speaking, as yells of protesters became audible, the screen went black. Feed then came back and once again went black when woman was once again audible. During CNN International's post-speech commentary, at mention of south lawn heckler, screen went black again... feed returned when topic was no longer being discussed...

Notice how it's THE MEDIA guy (the camera man) trying to silence that woman? I wonder if he's doing that out of concern for her safety or out of loyalty to Hu Jintao?

I won't bother linking because Drudge's homepage changes all the time.

[Missy M]

2. Interesting because at this same ceremony I heard Bush....

say how important freedom to speak was. I guess it only applies when you speak what Bush and others want to hear.