User:Habap/Chronology

Camp Casey

On 6 August, 2005, Sheehan created a makeshift camp in a ditch by the side of the road about 3 miles from George W. Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas and announced her intention to stay (sleeping in a pup tent at nights) until she is granted a second face-to-face meeting with the President.[1] Sheehan started her protest the day the President started a planned five-week vacation. A few days later, the media began referring to Sheehan's camp as "Camp Casey."[2]

She spent the next four weeks in Crawford (except for 5 days spent in California to see her elderly mother, who had suffered a stroke[3]). On some days as many as 1500 supporters visited Camp Casey[4], including members of Congress, as well as several notable actors, singers, and civil rights activists. After a few days of protest, a state representative conjectured that Sheehan and her companions might be considered a threat to national security and be arrested.[5] None of the protesters were arrested at Camp Casey during August.

Bush's motorcade passed within 100 feet of Sheehan's roadside encampment on 12 August en route to a nearby ranch to attend a fundraising barbecue expected to raise US$2 million for the Republican National Committee; Sheehan held a sign reading "Why do you make time for donors and not for me?"[6]

Gold Star Families for Peace, of which Sheehan is a founding member, released a TV commercial featuring Sheehan, broadcast on Crawford and Waco cable channels near Bush's ranch.[7] The group conducted a walk to a police station just outside President Bush's Crawford ranch and delivered a bundle of oversized letters written by them to First Lady Laura Bush, appealing to her as a mother for support towards their movement.[8]

On 16 August, Sheehan moved her camp closer to the Bush ranch after being offered the use of a piece of land owned by a supporter, Fred Mattlage, who also happens to be a third cousin of Larry Mattlage, a rancher who had fired a shotgun on his property near the demonstration site several days earlier.[9][10]

In late August, Sheehan stated that she would continue her campaign against the Iraq war even if granted a second meeting with the President. She also announced the Bring Them Home Now Tour, to depart on September 1 and arrive in Washington, D.C., on September 24 for three days of demonstrations.

Hurricane Katrina, a Category 4 storm, made landfall in southeastern Louisiana on 29 August. The following day, President Bush ended his five-week vacation early to focus on relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Support

Sheehan received support from across the nation when, on 16 August, MoveOn.org announced a nationwide "Vigil for Cindy Sheehan" to take place the next day. More than 1,600 anti-war candlelight vigils in support of Sheehan were held around the United States, including one outside the White House.[11]

Counter-protests

A week after Camp Casey opens, during a morning counter-protest, over 250 people shouted pro-Bush slogans for several hours.[12] Some local residents attempted to disrupt Sheehan's protest (one by firing a shotgun nearby[13][14], another by driving his truck through the rows of white crosses representing soldiers killed in Iraq[15]) and even set up an opposing camp, named "Fort Qualls," behind Bill Johnson's "Yellow Rose" gift shop in Crawford, Texas. The next day, a bomb threat was received via telephone at the gift shop.[16]

On the same day that MoveOn.org announced the "Vigil for Cindy Sheehan", Move America Forward announced a "You Don't Speak For Me, Cindy" caravan leaving from San Francisco and ending in Crawford, Texas.[17] Opponents of Sheehan set up "Camp Reality," located in a ditch across the road from Camp Casey. Conflicting estimates of between 1000 to 4000 Pro-Bush supporters rally when the caravan arrived.[18][19]

Notable visitors to Camp Casey

folk singer Joan Baez
Native American activist Dennis Banks [20]
country musician Steve Earle
a group of Iraqis living in Texas[21]
Rev. Peter Johnson, organizer and former staffer of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
actress Margot Kidder [22]
U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas)[23][24]
Minnesota State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Becky Lourey
Rev. Joseph Lowery, preacher and co-founder of the SCLC
Texas singer-songwriter James McMurtry
Native American activist Russell Means
actor Viggo Mortensen [25]
Former FBI agent and Time Magazine Person of the Year Colleen Rowley
Rev. Al Sharpton [26]
actor Martin Sheen [27]
U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (D-California)[28]