Capitol Hill intern Caitlin Marriot who screamed expletive at Trump has been suspended

The Democrat intern will continue to work in Congress

A Democratic senator's intern who screamed an expletive at Donald Trump is suspended but continuing to work on Capitol Hill. (REUTERS)

A Congressional intern filmed screaming "Mr. President, f*** you!" just before Donald Trump entered the Capitol building last week has been suspended.

The expletive heard echoing through Capitol Hill became a viral sensation after NBC producer Frank Thorp recorded the moment on a cellphone and shared it with his over 50,000 Twitter followers. Media reports later identified the woman heard in the video as Caitlin Marriot, causing the senator's office to release a statement Monday night which didn't directly name the 21-year-old but confirmed disciplinary action had been taken against a summer intern.

"We are aware of the situation and have taken disciplinary action, including a one-week suspension and revoking her Congressional intern ID badge (thereby restricting her access to the Capitol), in response to her breach of office policies regarding respectful and appropriate conduct," Aaron Jacobs, director of communications for Senator Hassan, said in the statement. "We also facilitated contact with Capitol Police."

By Tuesday morning, a representative for Senator Hassan who answered her office phone confirmed Ms Marriot was the intern facing suspension for the incident.

Mr Trump was entering the Capitol building on Thursday for a meeting with Republican legislators to discuss a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Backlash over his administration's "zero tolerance" policy — which caused the systematic separation of families seeking asylum — has forced the president and GOP leadership to focus on a potential solution to the humanitarian crisis along the US-Mexico border.

Public outrage over the situation has mounted, despite Mr Trump signing an executive order last week which allows families to be detained together while undergoing immigration proceedings. Ms Hassan has been an ardent critic of the separation of children and their parents, describing it as "a policy that goes against the values that are at our very core" in a tweet.

Ms Marriot’s suspension arrives in the midst of a national debate surrounding the level of discourse in America. Earlier this week, Congresswoman Maxine Waters called on her supporters to publicly harass members of Mr Trump’s White House administration, spurring the president to tweet, “Be careful what you wish for, Max!”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was heckled during dinner at a Mexican restaurant as reports emerged of toddlers being sent to “tender age” immigrant detention centers apart from their families. White House adviser Stephen Miller was also confronted at a Mexican restaurant, and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also said she was asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia.

Meanwhile, the response to Ms Marriot's alleged outburst has been mixed across party aisles. Several liberal outlets have called on major companies to hire the intern, while conservative pundits slammed the apparent lack of civility. The intern is continuing to work throughout her one-week suspension with limited access from the senator's office in Washington.