Protesters Occupy Palin Speech, Get Thrown Out As Crowd Chants 'Sarah' and 'USA'

Sarah Palin delivered what was essentially the cherry-on-top to CPAC this evening, just after the American Conservative Union announced that Mitt Romney had won the conference's annual straw poll. Palin turned 48 today, and the birthday girl was, by far, the conference's darling. ACU chairman Al Cardenas called her speech the "perfect, perfect ending" after the crowds had parted, and she was given more than 10 standing ovations by a capacity crowd.

Her address was interrupted, however, by a group of protesters who called for a "mic check" not long into Palin's speech. They were ushered out by security as the crowd chanted "USA" and "Sarah." The Observer reports that there were no arrests, and an Occupy group from American University is claiming responsibility for the incident.

You can watch the C-SPAN clip over at BuzzFeed. My apologies for the shaky video here.