The class B misdemeanor carries a possible penalty of six months' jail time and a fine of up to $5,000.

But saying he believed Bursey meant no harm to the president, and given the nature of his offense, U.S. District Court Judge Bristow Marchant only sentenced Bursey, 54, to pay a $500 fine.

The sentence did not sit well with Bursey or his attorneys.

After the hearing, Bursey's lead attorney, Lewis Pitts, addressed a crowd of about 20 supporters and said his client would appeal the decision.

"This is an extremely sad day for our democracy as far as our confidence in the judiciary," Pitts said. "The decision that was made today is contrary to all of the evidence that was presented and was presented in a way to appease the government and the Bush administration by procuring a conviction, but was sought to be sugar-coated with a light sentence to make people think that it was not as outrageous as it was."

Bursey was arrested in April 2003 for refusing to stay within a specific area set aside for protestors during a visit by President Bush. He has maintained all along that he was arrested, not for his location, but for his politics.

On the day he was arrested, Bursey was holding a sign that read "No War for Oil."

Marchant said he could find no evidence of selective prosecution. He also said that while he accepted that Bursey provided no threat to the president, such knowledge is not available to the Secret Service before an act is carried out.

"And in this age of suicide bombers, the Secret Service's concerns about allowing someone to stand near where the president's vehicle is expected to drive by slowly is manifestly understandable," he said.

Bursey is the first person tried under the seldom-used federal law regulating safety zones around presidents. Typically, cases involving such protestors are handled at a local level. He said his case is indicative of the approach of the Bush administration, which is why he will appeal this decision.

"We may have lost this battle, this fairly technical battle," Bursey said. "But we will win the war, because this isn't right, this isn't fair."

Bursey said on presidential visits, the Secret Service clears out huge "sanitized" zones to make sure there are no camera shots of protestors with the president.

"And that concerns me because people watching television all around the world think that all Americans love George Bush and his policies," Bursey said. "And what concerns me more is that George Bush may think the American people love him."

In his ruling, Marchant pointed out that there are reasonable limits to free speech and that the Secret Service has a right to set guidelines for the president's safety.

But the judge's reasoning bothered many Bursey supporters at Tuesday's hearing.

"I feel like I just fell through a hole in the flag," said Kent Clore of Columbia. "What is happening to the America I love?"

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