COLUMBIA,
S.C. (AP) - A longtime political activist was fined $500
Tuesday after a judge found him guilty of entering a
restricted area during a presidential visit.
Brett Bursey, 55, was charged in March - five months after
he was arrested during a visit to Columbia by President Bush.
The president visited Columbia in October 2002 to gather
support for Republican candidates heading into November
elections.
Bursey had faced six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Bursey, who has been arrested several times on
protest-related charges since the 1960s, has questioned
motives of the U.S. attorney's office for bringing the rarely
used federal charge against him.
Federal attorneys have said Bursey was in area that had
been closed to the public before Bush landed, and no one was
permitted to enter or remain in the restricted area.
During his trial in November, Bursey said he was never told
that he was in a restricted area nor told exactly where a
designated "free-speech zone" was.
