Sheehan's press rep arrested for talking to cops during Rove visit

[kurth]

Rove rallies Texas Republican stalwarts
Cindy Sheehan protests Austin appearance by presidential adviser
By W. Gardner Selby
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, August 20, 2006

After protesters allied with anti-war demonstrator Cindy Sheehan rushed the ballroom doors and scuffled with police, senior White House adviser Karl Rove roused Republicans Saturday in Austin by suggesting that a strong economy and President Bush's course abroad will lead GOP candidates to November wins. Saying Democrats are pro-taxation, pro-spending and wrongly committed to cutting and running from Iraq, the chief White House political adviser said: "We are right, and they are wrong."...

One protester managed to slip inside the event, which attracted more than 300 guests and raised an estimated $250,000 for the Associated Republicans of Texas. Shouting objections, including "men and women are dying," the woman was escorted from the ballroom of the Renaissance Austin Hotel. Laughter came after Rove said: "I don't question the patriotism of our critics. Many are hard-working public servants who are doing the best they can. Some of them are people looking for a free meal." Rove also posed an unanswered query to Pat Robbins, the GOP group's executive director: "Pat, did you get her check before she left?"

Protesters began gathering outside the hotel well before Rove slipped in through a side door for a pre-dinner private reception. Waving handwritten signs, about 50 chanted, "Get out of town, Karl. Get out, get out." Several dozen protesters entered the hotel and briefly unfurled a pink banner from a balcony that read "Rove v. Truth No Contest. Pink Slip Rove." After GOP supporters entered the ballroom to dine and hear Rove, protesters surged to within several feet of the room's doors, which hotel employees held shut. One protester momentarily entered the ballroom and yelled, "Karl Rove is a war criminal!" She was hauled out.

Outside the room, police demanded that protesters leave the hotel. Scuffling between protesters and Austin police led Sheehan's sister, DeDe Miller, to fall backward to the carpeted floor. One protester was arrested, Austin police said. Cindy Sheehan also read aloud "war crimes" charges against Rove, including a charge that Rove was responsible for her son's 2004 death as an Army specialist in Iraq. After each charge, protesters yelled, "Citizens arrest." Police detained Tiffany Burns of Los Angeles, who has been Sheehan's press representative. Burns said she was handcuffed after she asked officers to arrest Rove...

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/20rove.html