Charges against Sheehan to be dropped

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Charges against anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, who was arrested before President George W. Bush's State of the Union speech, will be dropped, NBC said.

Sheehan, whose son Casey Sheehan was killed in the war in Iraq, was seated in the U.S. House of Representatives gallery before the speech Tuesday night wearing a T-shirt with an anti-war slogan. Sgt. Kimberly Schneider of the U.S. Capitol Police said Sheehan was asked to cover it up, but refused and was arrested before Bush entered the chamber.

U.S. Capitol Police will ask the U.S. attorney's office to drop the charge, NBC said.

"We screwed up," a Capitol Police official told the network, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The unlawful conduct charge, a misdemeanor, carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail. Sheehan was attending the State of the Union speech as a guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., who has called for a withdrawal of troops in Iraq and supports legislation for the creation of a Department of Peace.

Sheehan had been dogging Bush since August 2005, when she and hundreds of fellow protesters demanded an audience with the president and camped outside his ranch in Crawford, Texas.