(KTLA-TV) |
LOS ANGELES - A woman claiming to be a Roman Catholic priestess from Anaheim had to be physically removed from a press area near Air Force One.
The woman was awaiting President Barak Obama's arrival at the airport for his departure from Los Angeles.
Exclusive KTLA video shows airport security officers carrying the woman away by the feet and arms as she protested her removal.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Brenda Lee of the Georgia Informer said 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.
Lee, who was wearing what she described as a cassock, 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.
Lee, who said this was the second presidential event she has covered, was later released.
The incident occurred about 10 minutes before Obama arrived at the 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.
The woman was awaiting President Barak Obama's arrival at the airport for his departure from Los Angeles.
Exclusive KTLA video shows airport security officers carrying the woman away by the feet and arms as she protested her removal.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Brenda Lee of the Georgia Informer said 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.
Lee, who was wearing what she described as a cassock, 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.
Lee, who said this was the second presidential event she has covered, was later released.
The incident occurred about 10 minutes before Obama arrived at the 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.
