A protester who laughed out loud at US politician Jeff Sessions is now facing jail time, according to reports in The New York Times. 

Desiree A. Fairooz, from Virginia, was attending a confirmation hearing for Sessions with members of the grassroots protest group Code Pink. She was arrested for emitting a loud laugh after hearing a statement praising the Attorney General’s reputation for “treating all Americans equally under the law.” Police then seized her and escorted her off the premises.

“I just couldn’t hold it,” she said on Wednesday. “It was spontaneous. It was an immediate rejection of what I considered an outright lie or pure ignorance.” 

Fairooz is now reportedly facing charges of “disorderly and disruptive conduct” and of “parading or demonstrating on Capitol grounds.” If convicted, she could be forced to pay $2,000 in fines, and/or sentenced to one year in prison.

Two other Code Pink activists, Tighe Barry and Lenny Bianchi, were also arrested at the hearing. Although, weirdly, despite dressing up as Klu Klux Klan members and cheering on Sessions, the pair were both acquitted of disorderly and disruptive conduct, and will now just face charges of parading or demonstrating. Turns out dressing up in racist hoods and jeering is still not as disorderly as laughter. 

“None of us planned to get arrested,” added Fairooz. “We just wanted to be a visible symbol of dissent.”

Sessions has so far proven to be a wildly unpopular Attorney General. Known for his backwards conservativism and thinly-veiled racism, the Alabama-born politician is pro-life, anti-same-sex marriage, and beloved by the NRA. To make things worse, the US justice department – which is led by Sessions – earlier this week failed to press charges against the Baton Rouge officer who shot the unarmed Alton Sterling.

Sign to Code Pink petition to release Desiree A. Fairooz below: