Obama Speech Interrupted: "Medea Benjamin Gets in News Conferences Using 'CodePink Magic'" (WATCH)
23 May 2013
During Obama's speech on Thursday, CODEPINK's co-founder Medea Benjamin stood up to the president, demanding the closure of the prison at Guantanamo and the end of his killer drone program.
Benjamin shouted, as she was escorted out of the news conference:
"Can you tell the Muslim people that their lives are as precious as our lives?Can you take the drones out of the hands of the CIA? Can you stop the signature strikes that are killing people on the basis of suspicious activities? Will you apologize to the thousands of Muslims that you have killed? Will you compensate the innocent family victims? That will make us safer."
After Benjamin was removed from the room, Obama said that he would go "off script," and address Benjamin, saying, "I'm willing to cut that young lady interrupting me some slack, because it's worth being passionate about ... The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to."
National CODEPINK coordinator Alli McCracken said, "We're glad he acknowledged [CODEPINK], but we want him to walk the walk. He's been talking the talk ... saying he appreciates nuances of these issues and that they're complex." But in the end, she said, CODEPINK wants the president to take action.
McCracken said the organization had about 50 people protesting outside of the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., where Obama was speaking. Asked about the secret of getting Benjamin into these events, she said, "It's CODEPINK magic."
Below is a video clip from Huffngton Post's political reporter Ryan J. Reilly of Benjamin being escorted out of the room.