Sheehan cleared of D.C. protest charge

Activist Cindy Sheehan has been cleared of a charge stemming from a protest in front the White House.

After a trial in D.C. Superior Court on Monday, Judge Robert E. Morin found Sheehan not guilty of crossing a police line during an anti-war protest in March.

A prosecutor showed a video of demonstrators lying on the White House sidewalk with mock coffins and Sheehan crossing a toppled police barrier. U.S. Park Police are heard warning protesters that their permit had been revoked.

Defense attorney Mark Goldstone says the judge told the court that Sheehan was acquitted because she crossed the barrier after it was knocked down.

Goldstone says two co-defendants were acquitted, but two more were convicted of failure to obey and one was convicted of crossing a police line.

-- Associated Press