A woman was tossed out of the public viewing galleries at Tuesday’s State of the Union after shouting out in support of President Obama’s demand for Congress to vote on gun control.
Mr. Obama, pointing to the parents of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old girl who was killed at a park near the president’s home in Chicago last month, said “they deserve a vote” on his gun-control plans.
As Democrats chanted “Vote! Vote!” on the chamber floor, the spectator shouted out “Naiesha Pearson deserves a vote.” Pearson was 10 when she was killed at a barbecue in New York in 2005.
While lawmakers regularly applaud, cheer or jeer the president during these addresses, those in the public galleries are not supposed to react.
A security officer came to the woman and made her leave. It was not clear who the woman was or which member of Congress invited her.
A number of lawmakers gave tickets this year to gun-control supporters and victims of gun crimes, raising the temperature of the debate on guns after December’s shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Rep. Steve Stockman, a Republican gun-rights supporter, countered by inviting National Rifle Association board member Ted Nugent.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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