Capitol Hill Police apologize for ejecting women for T-shirts

Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., speaking from the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, holds up the T-shirt that prompted Capitol Hill Police to remove his wife, Beverly, from the gallery during Tuesday's State of the Union address.

Washington ? Capitol Police dropped a charge of unlawful conduct against anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan on Wednesday and apologized for ejecting her and a congressman’s wife from President Bush’s State of the Union address for wearing T-shirts with war messages.

“The officers made a good faith, but mistaken effort to enforce an old unwritten interpretation of the prohibitions about demonstrating in the Capitol,” Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said in a statement Wednesday.

The statement came a day after police removed Sheehan and Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. “Bill” Young, R-Fla., from the gallery. Sheehan was taken away before Bush’s arrival and charged with a misdemeanor, while Young left and therefore was not arrested, Gainer said.

“Neither guest should have been confronted about the expressive T-shirts,” Gainer’s statement said.

Security escorts Cindy Sheehan from the U.S. House of Representatives before President Bush's State of the Union address Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Gainer added that he was asking the U.S. attorney’s office to drop the charge against Sheehan. The statement also said he apologized to the Youngs.

“A similar message has been left with Mrs. Sheehan,” Gainer said.

A foreign-born American citizen who was the guest of Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., also was taken by police from the gallery just above the House floor, Hastings said Wednesday.

Sheehan’s T-shirt alluded to the number of soldiers killed in Iraq: “2245 Dead. How many more?” Capitol Police charged her with a misdemeanor for violating the District of Columbia’s code against unlawful or disruptive conduct on any part of the Capitol grounds, an official said. She was released from custody.

Young’s shirt had just the opposite message: “Support the Troops – Defending Our Freedom.”