Antiwar protester Sheehan to move campsite

By Caren Bohan

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) – Antiwar protester Cindy
Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, is moving her camp
closer to President George W. Bush’s Texas ranch.

The piece of private property was offered by a relative of
a man who had a fired shotgun in frustration over the protests,
a source in the Sheehan camp said. The property owner is also a
veteran.

“A neighbor of President Bush’s has offered us his land,”
the source said. “It’s got plenty of acreage for us, it’s
private land, we would have legal permission to be on it, it’s
much closer to the ranch — in fact it’s across the street from
his (Bush’s) church.”

“We have taken him up on his offer,” the source added.

Sheehan was not immediately available for comment.

Sheehan was expected to begin moving as early as Wednesday
morning.

She is in the 10th day of her vigil on Prairie Chapel Road,
which leads to Bush’s 1,600-acre (647.5-hectare) ranch. She
calls her site “Camp Casey,” after her 24-year-old son who was
killed in combat in Iraq.

According to the source, the land offered to Sheehan is
owned by Fred Mattlage, who is a distant cousin of Larry
Mattlage, a man who fired a shotgun over the weekend in
frustration over the commotion caused by the vigil.

The source said Fred Mattlage made the offer saying “I’m a
veteran, I support what you all are doing and I want to offer
you my land.”

Sheehan, of Vacaville, California, has demanded a meeting
with Bush at which she said she wants to call for the
withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq.

While Bush has expressed sympathy for Sheehan’s grief, the
White House has declined a meeting. Sheehan previously met with
Bush in 2004 but wants to talk to him face-to-face again.

Sheehan’s vigil has attracted anti-war activists from
across the United States — many of them also relatives of
soldiers killed in Iraq — who arrived to offer support, share
a hug with Sheehan and join in her daily media events.

But in this quiet farming town of just over 700 people,
many residents have found the activity disruptive.

In the latest sign of tension, a man in a pickup truck on
Monday night ran over crosses at Sheehan’s campsite.

Some 800 white wooden crosses, bearing the names of
soldiers killed in Iraq have lined the road near the area where
Sheehan has pitched a tent. Witnesses said they saw a truck
dragging a pipe and chains drive over some of the crosses.

Larry Northern, 46, of nearby Waco, Texas, was arrested and
charged with criminal mischief in connection with the incident.

Earlier on Tuesday, a group of residents showed up at a
hearing of county officials to complain about the traffic
caused by activists and reporters who shuttle back and forth to
the camp site.

They brought a petition seeking to ban parking and camping
along Prairie Chapel Road.

Displayed in front of one resident’s house was a big sign
that read, “We support our commander-in-chief.”