Seattle resident Riana St. Classis caused controversy Monday when she set up a table in front of the Oak Harbor Post Office with information related to Lyndon LaRouche and his Political Action Committee.

In bold letters a poster on the front of the table read, “Impeach Dick Cheney before September financial crash.”

LaRouche is an outspoken critic of the Bush administration and a regular presidential candidate. He is sometimes described as a cult figure and served time in prison for tax violations.

Todd Nordquist, coordinator of the Seattle branch of the LaRouche Political Action Committee, said that the movement is frequently involved in promoting legislation.

The current push by the LaRouche PAC is for a government buyout of automobile factories that are closing nationwide.

“She wasn’t protesting anything,” said Norquist, who insisted that St. Classis was there for educational purposes.

“The location wasn’t chosen for any special reason,” said Nordquist of the post office. “We’re creating a ‘New Deal’ for the country.”

Nordquist repeated that these actions are not protests but an “awareness campaign.”

Someone in the post office called the police and asked them to remove St.Classis after an irate customer complained about the activist.

Initially Oak Harbor Police Officer Spencer Magruder spoke with St.Classis and advised her to vacate the post office grounds. However, after consulting his superiors, Magruder relented and St. Classis was allowed to stay.

The stipulation for her continued activism on post office grounds was that she remove the table that featured the sign calling for the impeachment of Cheney, presumably for safety reasons.

“It’s fine as long as they aren’t confrontational,” said Randy Bennett, Oak Harbor postal supervisor. Bennett consulted postal administrators for guidance and was advised that the activism was legally protected as free speech.

St.Classis put her table in her car and another activist hand-held the impeachment sign. They peacefully continued to hand out brochures to postal patrons and passersby.