US lawmaker cut off for wearing hoodie

29 Mar 2012, 9:20 am   -   Source: AFP
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Bobby Rush was told to remove the hood on his jacket or leave the Chamber where he was speaking. (AAP)

Bobby Rush was told to remove the hood on his jacket or leave the Chamber where he was speaking. (AAP)

A US lawmaker who wore a hooded jacket to the House of Representatives to commemorate the shooting death of a black Florida teenager was rebuked for defying the dress code.

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A US lawmaker who wore a hooded jacket to the House of Representatives to commemorate the shooting death of a black Florida teenager was rebuked for defying the dress code.

Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat, was told to remove the hood on his jacket or leave the Chamber where he was speaking.

Rush wore the hood and sunglasses to demonstrate his outrage against what he called racial profiling that led a volunteer security guard to shoot and kill 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on February 26 in Sanford, Florida.

Martin was wearing a hooded jacket as he walked through a gated neighborhood, where he was approached by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman.

The altercation that followed led to the death of Martin and protests that continue nationwide. Martin was unarmed and returning home after buying candy at a nearby convenience store.

Rush said the young man was the target of the shooter because of his skin color.

"Too often this violent act which resulted in the murder of Trayvon Martin is repeated in the streets of our nation," Rush said.

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

He was interrupted by Representative Gregg Harper of Mississippi, who was the acting speaker of the House at the time.

After pounding his gavel to demand silence, Harper told Rush to remove his hood or leave the room.

"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.

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