By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:18 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- The mother of a Marine who tried to kill himself after two
tours of duty in Iraq was arrested Monday while protesting the war
outside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Tina
Richards of Salem, Mo., was charged with disorderly conduct, said Sgt.
Kimberly Schneider, a U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman. Schneider said
Richards would be issued a citation and released.
Drew Hammill, a
spokesman for Pelosi, D-Calif., said Richards was with a group of 15 to
20 protesters when she was arrested in the hallway outside the
speaker's office. He added that Pelosi's office made no complaint about
the presence of the protesters and was informed of the arrests after
they had taken place.
Gael Murphy, a spokesman for Codepink, an
anti-war group that helped organize the protest at Pelosi's office,
said Richards was arrested after chanting anti-war statements.
''I
have been trying to meet with Speaker Pelosi since November because she
needs to listen to the moms and other women affected by the war,''
Richards said in a statement.
Hammill said Richards' request for
a meeting with Pelosi is pending. ''She's met repeatedly with staff,
and we've passed her concerns to the speaker,'' he said.
Last
month, Richards confronted Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the
House Appropriations Committee, in her effort to persuade lawmakers to
cut off funding for the war. That exchange was videotaped and played
widely on YouTube.
''You can't end the war if you vote against
the supplemental. It's time these idiot liberals understand that,''
Obey told her during the exchange. He later apologized. | 
