Reporter Dragged From Air Force One
Brenda Lee, being dragged kicking & screaming from Air Force One
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.
“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.
Famous Gay African-Americans
Comments
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princess3788-19-2009 3:35 pm
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Jahz_Lynx6-5-2009 8:51 pm
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missstrings436-5-2009 9:30 am
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Gloria1336-2-2009 1:55 pm
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baje_prince6-2-2009 5:14 am
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specialkindalady6-2-2009 4:01 am
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specialkindalady6-2-2009 3:58 am
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specialkindalady6-2-2009 3:56 am
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indians836-1-2009 2:26 pm
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Im_Not_Feeling_It6-1-2009 12:45 pm
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indians836-1-2009 8:55 am
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davettalashley6-1-2009 5:26 am
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50tymz6-1-2009 12:56 am
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nigafalyfe5-31-2009 5:37 pm
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RoyalT5-31-2009 5:25 pm
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l4kt5-31-2009 4:19 pm
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l4kt5-31-2009 4:16 pm
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HardMuthaFlower5-31-2009 4:14 pm
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ZORRO_5-31-2009 2:38 pm
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lotus-moon5-31-2009 2:24 pm
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non_butt_azz5-31-2009 1:45 pm
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CASANOVA19805-31-2009 1:39 pm
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Kyeanna1215-31-2009 1:24 pm
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Mumm_Raa5-31-2009 1:12 pm
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miss_shai5-31-2009 1:02 pm
« Previous 1 ... 3 4 5They haul a report off. But they won’t arrest the man that showed up a town hall meeting with a GUN and a sign that say DEATH to the President. Hummm I’m a little confused.
People have been shot in the head for a whole lot less.
Kudos! I believe Air Force One has their thing going on! They are protecting our President. Wonderful! When she was asked to leave, she should have followed their orders. They may have been something else going on and she was going to be in the way of security. You never know. When an authoritative figure like that of AFO says to move..do it! There is NO conversation. She has just created a new definition for Webster Dictionary to add for IDIOT!
Again…Kudos to Air Force One! Keep our President and his family safe!
Let me say, that I am african american myself and I am saying… GOOD FOR HER BLACK ASS. She should’ve been minding her damn business, just because she is some fake priestess she thinks that she is so different from anyone else? First of all she lied about her purpose for being there, so what does that really say about this woman?? She isn’t supposed to be lying. She’s a fake.
This was such a dumb move by a supposed educated women. There goes the adage that education and common sense do not always o hand in hand. Agree with specialkindalady. She as being a part of the press and this being her second coverage of a presidential event knows the protocol better than you and I. Therefore even if Obama heard about the incident probably thinks of her as a half-baked crazy journalist. I am all for freedom of expresion but she has brought shame to her news house and the journalistic fraternity. Hope she learns from this experience.
LMAO @-l4kt 5-31-2009 4:19 pm “It was prob. a love letter asking Obama to check a yes or no box if he wanted her cookies. AHAHAHAHA!”
Why does the media have to be SO mellow-dramatic??? She wasn’t DRAGGED away! She was carried…
She brought that sh!t on herself!
She did something stupid and she knew what the consequences were and she even said…she’d take her chances…so why is everybody in a tizzy??? How you gon’ think you so much better [than those who have to follow proper protocol] and hand force your ideas on someone else??? Good for her ass! If she got White House creds…then why didn’t she hand deliver the letter right to him??? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
I would love to have a field day seeing two black cops escorting a white woman/man. Or even better if white cops beat and dragged a white woman in the midst of her offensive disorderly conduct.
I know ignorance is bliss but rascism is even more detrimental.
Let’s see …. Same Couple Marriage or Police Brutality? Same Couple Marriage or Black on Black crime? Same Couple Marriage or Black Teenage pregnancy? Same Couple Marriage or ….? Seems like Black folks have much more important things to worry about instead of sitting in judgment of another group of people!! And we wonder why we get no respect!!!! Because we fall for EVERYTHING and stand for NOTHING that really affects OUR LIVES!!!!!
This is another form of rascism. The irony is the two officers are black (colored) which indicates black on black crime. The woman isn’t white so this country yet again gain points in the discrimination department. I’m sure the two officers were lauded by their superiors (white) for a job well done when apprehending this blck woman as white people are having a field day with this press release depicting black people as usual at their worst.
Look, lady, I feel ya, but just ’cause the Prez is black, you can’t just charge in there and demand to see him. lol.
next time her ass oughta think about useing the old postal services
if that was a brotha we would have been shot on tha spot…
You know I’ve heard common sense ain’t common….well there are two things common sense would have told her, like other people have said. Once you were asked to leave you need to comply after that you come back you are a threat. And you saying you have a letter you want to “give” to the president? can anyone say anthrax or some type of other poison or explosive laced in the letter? Stupid. Use the USPS next time.
It was prob. a love letter asking Obama to check a yes or no box if he wanted her cookies. AHAHAHAHA!
If she had tried to give Obama that letter when he landed, she would have gotten alot worse than being dragged. She needs to consider herself lucky… no blessed.
Typical nigga woman and her drama.
religious idiots…
Why didn’t she just mail the darn thing? It would have been a lot easier!
wtf are u talking about aint like u can get HIV from touchin someone let alone a damn letter u sound real stupid and ignorant for postin that u can only get HIV thru sexual contact or if it gets in your blood like thru a needle or some tha lady is jus crazy dats all, i could see if u had said anthrax but HIV b***h get fuk outta here u dumbazz block head both of yall need to be dragged cuz yall both stupid
That crap was funny as hell, i just hope she don’t look over here for some support. (to brenda lee) don’t look over here at me woman. lol!!! but anyways my friends 8 month old son has more sense than u woman. bigg ups to secret service for doing there job. i can’t believe some people. i thought the older u get the smarter u get, not the other way around. jeeeeezzz!!!
Omg did this woman not hear about the letter containing HIV that was sent to President Obama? What made her think they were gonna take a chance of letting something that might be even more dangerous getting through
Wow.. The lengths we go to be seen rather than heard… And besides that, who in the hell doesn’t know that no one gets that close??!! She wanted attention and Honorable Mention for being one of the most unusually ignorant people in America.
This woman is insane, reporter or not. And we cant afford to let every looney w a letter just walk up to Obama. For all we know that letter could have had poison in it. Or she was just gonna get up close and shank him. All my skinfolk are not my kinfolk and this lady gettin dragged out for foolery don’t bother me none.