'Birther' arrested during Constitution reading

A woman was arrested in the House gallery Thursday after interrupting a reading of the Constitution by yelling out her belief that President Barack Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States.

When Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) read the part of Article II, Section 1 mandating that only a "natural-born citizen" may be president, the woman, seated in the front row of the public gallery, screamed "Except Obama, except Obama. Help us Jesus."

An officer removed her from the gallery as she yelled out "My name is Theresa."

"You're under arrest," the officer could be heard telling her as he led her through double doors at the back of the chamber.

Members are rotating by party as they read short passages from the amended version of the founding document. Speaker of the House John Boehner kicked off the reading, followed by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Other than high attendance on the House floor and participation by leaders and rank-and-file members of both parties, the early part of what was expected to be a roughly two-hour reading was unremarkable until the outburst.

Update: Capitol Police confirmed Thursday evening that 48-year-old Theresa Cao of New York was arrested and charged with unlawful conduct, disruption of Congress, processed and released.

Jonathan Allen is Politico’s White House bureau chief.