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Hu Heckler Charged in Federal Court

A heckler who disrupted a White House appearance by Chinese President Hu Jintao last week was charged in federal court with harassment of a foreign official. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney`s office in the American capital of Washington, D.C., says the misdemeanor charge carries a penalty of up to six months in jail.

The offender has been identified as 47-year-old Wang Wenyi, a reporter with The Epoch Times, an English-language publication strongly supportive of the meditation and spiritual movement Falun Gong, which is banned in China and labeled a "cult" by the Communist government in Beijing. The heckler had been granted a pass to cover the visit of President Hu, and had attended previous events without incident, according to U.S. officials.

According to reports, U.S. Attorney spokesman Channing Phillips says she was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service and that the U.S. Attorney`s office decided to proceed by filing the federal charge in court. The embarrassing episode marred the White House event and created a diplomatic stir, in which Bush personally apologized to Hu for the incident.