Brenda Lee, Reporter, Dragged Kicking And Screaming From Near Air Force One

LOS ANGELES — A writer for a small Georgia newspaper who wanted to give President Barack Obama a letter was forcibly removed from a press area near Air Force One on Thursday shortly before he arrived at the airport.

Airport security officers carried the woman away by the feet and arms as she protested her removal. She was then allowed to leave. She said the letter she had written was opposing gay marriage.

She later identified herself as Brenda Lee, a writer for the Georgia Informer in Macon, and said she is a "Roman Catholic priestess" who lives in Anaheim, Calif. She said she has White House press credentials.

The newspaper's Web site says it is a monthly publication; the site has writings by Lee posted. A call to the newspaper was not immediately returned.

The White House had no comment, said deputy press secretary Josh Earnest in Washington.

The incident occurred about 10 minutes before Obama arrived at Los Angeles International Airport by helicopter to board Air Force One. He had been in Los Angeles to attend a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.

Lee said later in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that she wanted to hand Obama a letter urging him "to take a stand for traditional marriage."

She said she asked a Secret Service agent to give the president her letter, but he refused and referred her to a White House staffer. Lee said she refused to give the staffer the letter.

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"I said, 'I'll take my chances if (the president) comes by here,'" said Lee. "He became annoyed that I wouldn't give him the letter."

Lee said she protested when she was asked to leave.

"I said, 'Why are you bothering me?' They escorted me outside the gate," she said. She said security officers allowed her to return when she promised she would not yell or wave, but then other officers arrived and told her to leave.

"I said, 'I'm not leaving,'" she said. "They tried to drag me out."

Two officers then picked her up and carried her out. An Associated Press photographer photographed the incident.

"I was afraid you could see under my clothes," she said, her voice choking up.

Lee, who said this was the second presidential event she has covered, was later released.

Comments

[XCITIZEN]

I hope this picture of her in this ridiculous, humiliating position, is circulated around the globe for the rest of eternity, and beamed into outer space.

[VanillaSeven]

She can just go play kite and be happy instead of waiting near Air Force One.

http://vanillaseven.com/2009/05/30/rainbow-kite/

[ssfahrer]

I think Sara Jane Moore started this way before she tried to assassinate Gerald Ford....

[tsand19151]

I wanna bake the Prez some cookies.... think I'll just walk up to the white House with my cookies and welcome him to the neighborhood. And if the SS stops me, I'll give them a cookie.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

And when they cart you away, please have photos taken.

And, by the way, wear sexy undies . . . . Brenda was very concerned about showing the ones, if any, she was waring.

[nylibgrrl]

heh, she was probably wearing old-fashioned pantaloons but ya know, what scandal for someone to catch a glimpse of the undergarments of a holy priestess like her.

[HappyMarsden]

"I was afraid you could see under my clothes" she said, all choked up...

Like who the F CARES, lady! Looking at you, it's not like anyone in their right mind would want to!

[We-Are-The-Ones]

There is always someone who does. Besides maybe she was nekkid or had some undies to unseemly for a priestess.

If she was concerned about her undies, why didn't she just walk?

[ZoeyMO]

That's what I wondered.

[StonyStoner]

And lady, trust me, NO body wants to see under yer clothes....ever.

[StonyStoner]

Y'all go down south and as soon as y'all begin speaking, you are likely to hear "You ain't from around here are ya?" from some local yokel.

They'll tell ya down yonder that they don't like yankees and the like comin' down here telling 'em their bidness or how treat their blacks. They will be appreciating it if y'all would just go back North or on out there to Frisco or Hollywood..

So then how come the Georgia gal is out here telling us in California how to live? She ain't from around here is she?

[Darling Daintyfoot]

Heyyyy take it easy on us Georgia Peaches...not all of us are repugnicans ;)

[TrueBlueMajority]

I think there's a lesson to be learned here.

Oh yeah: Don't frak with the Secret Service!

[Zante]

There is no such thing as a catholic priestress. The catholic church does not allow women to become priestesses.
First of all she should fight for HER OWN RIGHTS to be what she wants to be. To me she is just in the same boat as gay people who fight for their own rights to be recognized, so she should know how it feels to be discriminated.
Second, I think it is really poor of her to play the woman and race card (reference to her interview).
Third, this is the best thing that could have happen to her as to the media attention. If she just had given Obama the letter nobody would have ever heard about her cause and beliefs. This incident gives the anti gay front more ammo.

[ZoeyMO]

Stopping a nut from getting to the President outside Air Force One "gives the anti gay front more ammo"? Exactly, how? Seems to me that it makes them seem even more ridiculous.

[yngskywlkr]

"she wanted to hand Obama a letter urging him "to take a stand for traditional marriage." "

You know what I think he should take a stand on ?

Scary people showing up at airports to hand him some letter when he arrives someplace.

[slaxx]

oh well.

[wonkguy]

Has she ever heard of a stamp?

[Clare53]

Funny.

[TommyMcCarthy]

"Dragged kicking and screaming"........sensational......less than accurate

"Carried....ranting and babbling" ?.........THERE 'ya go!

The job of the Secret Service body guys is to percieve and QUICKLY remove any potential threat to the President....job well done.

[digitalprophet]

+2, as it were..

It's pretty much common knowledge that you can't just casually go up to the President and hand him something :)

[sweetwhine]

"job well done." Exactly? It's not like this is a fun day for the Secret Service.

I bet they're embarrassed by this kind of stuff. I'm really! There she is in a dress with her legs all propped up for all to see, being carried away like she's some looney. Lady wear some slacks next time! Geez.
Poor Secret Service guys. The sh*t they gotta do.

[Angie Tyne 1]

So, let me get this straight. She is claiming that she is a Roman Catholic 'Priestess' even though the church refuses to have women in the ranks. Therefore:
- the church is WRONG on how it chooses to run it's clergy. She is fighting for what she believes are her rights in a purely RELIGIOUS area where they have total authority.
- the church is RIGHT on who should be allowed to marry in a purely SECULAR govt authorized process and gays should not fight for their rights in a secular society.

[Janskats]

If the same sex couples who want to get married aren't getting married in YOUR particular homophobic church, then it's none of YOUR business. You can dress it up with any chosen ritual from the religious (or not) institution of your preference..but no matter what you do with it, getting MARRIED is stil, in this country, a CIVIL contract and union, first and foremost. If ya don't believe that, then try to get unmarried without that same civil authority "blessing" it! As long as the secular authority refers to such a contract as a "marriage", then that's just what it is..regardless of who is marrying whom and in spite of whether your particular, shriveled belief system sanctions it! Get a grip! "Marriage" is not a holy word..it's a contracted, legal state of being!

[Angie Tyne 1]

You missed my point. It's not ok for the church to allow no females in their religious functions but it's ok for the church to block purely secular interactions based in law. As with many people affiliated with organized relgion what they want is ok but what others want is not.
And for those who disagree with their overriding religious representatives join Americans United for the Separation of Church & State. http://www.au.org/ Make sure that your tithes do not go to causes you do not agree with.

[Janskats]

I just decided..I'm going to start a campaign to get initiatives on the 2010 ballot to outlaw marriage entirely, unless the bride and groom pass a pre-trothal fertility test. If they fail to produce children within one year of their marriage contract, the marriage will be anulled and they will both be imprisoned for deceiving all the fundamentalist, Catholic and Mormon churches, failing in God's only true purpose for marriage..procreation! Maybe I should also get up a petition to reinstate anti-miscegenation laws and those forbidding marriage amongst members of any minority, just for the Brenda Lees of the world who somehow think same-sex marriage is not a civil rights issue! Think these same good Christian folk will vote "yes" on these..after all, it's consistent with what they've been telling us about the "purpose" of marriage...??