Soldier's mom interrupts Laura Bush's speech
'President Bush You Killed My Son' on mother's T-shirt
HAMILTON, New Jersey (CNN) -- The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq was arrested Thursday in Hamilton, New Jersey, after interrupting a campaign speech by first lady Laura Bush. As police hauled her away, she shouted "police brutality."
Wearing a T-shirt with the message "President Bush You Killed My Son," Sue Niederer of nearby Hopewell screamed questions at the first lady as the audience tried to drown her out by chanting "four more years, four more years."
She kept shouting at Bush, and eventually police removed her from the firehouse rally.
The first lady finished her speech in praise of the administration's actions in the war on terror and on the economy.
Outside, Niederer said she wanted to ask Laura Bush "Why the senators, the legislators, the congressmen, why aren't their children serving?"
She went on to blame the president for the death of her 24-year-old son, Army 1st Lt. Seth Dvorin. He was killed February 3 while trying to defuse a roadside bomb that exploded.
As Hamilton police and Secret Service agents surrounded her and reporters pressed her with questions, she held her ground, saying she had a ticket to attend the speech.
Police handcuffed her and led her to a nearby van. She repeatedly shouted "police brutality," and demanded to know her rights and the charges.
Later, she was charged with defiant trespass and released.
Since her son's death, Niederer has spoken repeatedly against the Iraq conflict. She is active in the antiwar group Military Families Speak Out.
The Pittsburgh Independent Media Center reported that she recently participated in demonstrations around the Republican National Convention in New York.
In March, The Toronto Star reported that she had demonstrated outside Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., where many wounded soldiers are treated; and at Dover Air Force Base, where soldiers' remains arrive back in the United States.
Neither the Bush campaign nor the Hamilton police would comment on the incident.
