Syracuse, N.Y. - A recent congressional Green Party candidate and a fellow protester were removed from President Barack Obama's speech at Henninger High School this evening for protesting the treatment of Army Private Bradley Manning.
"I was a little nervous -- We are taking an unpopular message to possibly the most powerful person in the world," said Ursula Rozum, who lost in 2012 in the race for the 24th N.Y. Congressional District.
At the event, Rozum and Amelia Ramsey-Lefevre held a banner calling for the release of Manning. Manning was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in a military prison for leaking classified military documents to the website WikiLeaks.
Ramsey-Lefevre shouted "Free Bradley Manning!" at the president, leading other audience members to turn and yell at her.
As people shouted, Obama said, "Hold on, hold on, everybody. Can I just say that as hecklers go, that young lady was very polite."
Obama stopped his speech while audience members booed as the protesters were led out.
"She was, and she brought up an issue of importance and that's what America is all about," Obama said. "But what America's also about is making sure the middle class can succeed."
Rozum said in an interview after the incident that she was "politely escorted out." They were not charged.
She and Ramsey-Lefevre rolled up the cloth banner -- about the size of a pillow case when not folded -- and snuck it in under their clothes, Rozum said.
She said she and Ramsey-Lefevre knew there would be protests as soon as they heard Obama was coming to Syracuse. They decided to disrupt his speech when they realized they could get tickets, she said.
"Just because it was a little scary does not mean that it was that hard of a thing to do," she said.
Rozum said that Obama faces widespread opposition to his treatment of Manning.
"I think anywhere [Obama] goes across the country he will be faced with people who are committed to supporting people who tell the truth," Rozum said. "If it wasn't us in Syracuse it probably would've been someone else in some other city."
