Rep. Rush kicked out of chamber for hoodie

WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., was removed from the House chamber Wednesday for wearing a hoodie as he spoke about the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

"Racial profiling has to stop," Rush said. "Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum."

Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., the presiding officer at the time, told Rush he could not wear a hat in the chamber, The Hill reported.

"The chair must remind members that clause 5 of rule 17 prohibits the wearing of hats in the chamber when the House is in session," Harper said after Rush left. "The chair finds that the donning of a hood is not consistent with this rule. Members need to remove their hoods or leave the floor."

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have been wearing hooded sweatshirts throughout the week in protest of the 17-year-old African American's death, The Hill said. Martin, who was unarmed, was shot and killed by self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman Feb. 26. The teen was wearing a hooded sweatshirt at the time.

"The evidence really points to a fact that you had a gung-ho so-called neighborhood watchman who wanted to be a cop, basically, who was following a young black man who was unarmed and had committed no crime," said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., in a joint interview on CNN with CBC Chairman Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo.. "That's pretty stiff evidence that this is possibly a hate crime"