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| Man Runs Over Sheehan Protest Signs; Gets Thrown in Jail |
| 2005-08-17 |
| As President Bush's neighbors seek relief from protesters by way of the county commission, one local resident took matters into his own hands and now has been charged with criminal mischief. McLennan County resident Larry Northern, 59, faced $3,000 bail Tuesday after witnesses said he swerved his pickup truck in and out of a display of crosses set up on the side of the road by anti-war protesters. The crosses represented the U.S. troops who have died in Iraq, with individuals' names on each. Northern was charged with criminal mischief over $1,500 and under $20,000. Cindy Sheehan, who has led the protest outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, said she was very upset by the vandalism. "I just want to say that what happened last night is very disturbing to all of us and it really should be very disturbing to America, because no matter what you think about the war, we should all honor the sacrifices of the ones who have fallen," said Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq in August 2004. You wouldn't know "honor" if it walked up and slapped you. "What we saw here last night was a sacrilege ... five of those crosses are those of my friends," added protester Charlie Anderson, who said he is a veteran of the Iraq war. But Sheehan and her group are largely blamed for creating the hostility brewing among the president's neighbors, who have appealed to the McLennan County Commission to erect a barrier that could prevent anti-war protesters from congregating on the road outside Bush's ranch. More than 60 people signed a petition sent to the commissioners asking them to expand the no-parking zone that bans cars within a few hundred feet of the ranch. The effect would be to push the anti-war protesters, who have pitched tents and set up port-a-potties on the winding two-lane road, about seven miles away from the neighbors' properties into the town of Crawford. To hear the MSM spin it, she's sitting out there all by herself, waiting for W. to talk with her. Some residents said they worry about the safety of children waiting for school buses in the area. Schools began classes Tuesday. "All those of us that live in that area and in that community and our children also have civil rights, and we do feel that those are being seriously compromised at this time," said John Laufenberg, who attended a Tuesday meeting of the commission and refuted concerns raised by protesters that expanding the parking ban would violate civil rights. "I would encourage the commission to weigh heavily the First Amendment rights that we have, because that's really the fundamental thing: free speech, the ability to protest, legitimate dissent in a democracy," said Ann Wright, who has been in charge of the site, dubbed "Camp Casey." Wright was joined at the commission meeting by about a dozen people from the camp. Sheehan did not attend the meeting, but said her group has been very respectful of the area. Are you a grieving mother or the leader of a mob? You send your flunkies to answer questions for you? "We're trying to be good neighbors. We're cooperating with law enforcement. If you talk to law enforcement, they'll tell you the same thing. We're trying to make everybody happy, and the only thing we want is to talk to one of their neighbors. And if they want us to leave, they should talk to their neighbor, George Bush, and tell him to talk to us," Sheehan said. Talk to "us"? I thought he was supposed to talk to YOU, Sheehan. Opponents of the shantytown that has been set up in shallow ditches next to Bush's ranch say the protesters are legally parked, but they are wandering into the street and bringing traffic, which doesn't usually exist there, to a crawl. Some drivers have blown their horns continuously while maneuvering around the crowd, and several have yelled, "Go home!" Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., said she will return to Bush's Texas home every time he is in town until he meets with her and other grieving families. Sheehan started the vigil on Aug. 6 and plans to stay until Bush returns to Washington in September. The county commission is unlikely to vote on changes to the ordinance before Bush leaves. The commission must publicize the petition and advertise a public hearing, which won't be held for another four weeks. The commissioners can vote. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former vice presidential candidate John Edwards, wrote a letter of support for the protesters that urged others to call the president and demand he meet with Sheehan. "The president's cavalier dismissal of Cindy Sheehan is emblematic of a greater problem. This is a mother who raised her son to love his country enough to serve. ... And when the worst does happen, when the world comes crashing down and she puts the boy she bore, the boy she taught, the boy she loved in the ground, what does that government say to her? It says we'll do the talking; we don't need to hear from you," Edwards wrote. Pardon me, you stupid cow, but Bush already did acknowledge Sheehan, face to face, and no "cavalier dismissal" occured. |
| Posted by:Chris W. |
| #16 Hell. someone else has figured us out |
| Posted by: Elders of Zion 2005-08-17 15:12 |
| #15 I'm afraid there is some bad news. I'm thinking it gives the whole situation the circus atmosphere it deserves. As for cousin, he's an idiot. Someone will trip and fall and he will get sued. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-17 12:00 |
| #14 This is getting really absurd!!!CUDO"s to the "MAD DRIVER"!!!!I cannot beleive what this woman is doing to her Son. And DISHONERING what he and many others have sacrificed.I have 25yrs in and am still going. Will be on my 4th tour in about a month. MY DECISION!!!!!!!As is everyone's involved!! When you put on the GREEN expect at some point that you WILL go in harms way!!Sheehan needs to pack her BULLSH** UP and GO HOME!!!!!!! Someone needs to put a website up to help this guy w/ legal fees!!! SO HE CAN DO IT AGAIN!!! |
| Posted by: ARMYGUY 2005-08-17 11:59 |
| #13 "By the way what's the speed limit on that road? 55?" Jan, Only if have a longneck in one hand. Otherwise, its 75-80mph. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-17 11:57 |
| #12 I'm sure the bail money will come from a "secret rainy day fund" from somewhere in Crawford. "Are there any anti-loitering local ordinances?" I'm afraid there is some bad news. The cousin of the guy who shot the gun in the air, is going provide his land, for |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-17 11:54 |
| #11 Demand a jury trial. Think the local AG can get a guilty verdict? |
| Posted by: Angart Whereling4308 2005-08-17 11:53 |
| #10 Criminal mischief? 1500 bucks damage? To what? A bunch of unlawfully placed litter? |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-08-17 11:21 |
| #9 To reduce honorable service and the ultimate sacrifice to rank political theater and farcical burlesque in the service of this bizarre dementia is to confirm beyond any doubt the ghoulish depravity of these Moonbats. Well said, .com What we saw here last night was a sacrilege ... Not as much as the 'sacrilege' of your buffonerey, Anderson. Chris W. : Worth every penny. How can I donate to your legal fund? I think Mr. Northern already has a lot of friends locally who would have liked to do what he did, just were beaten to it, and may help him... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-08-17 11:13 |
| #8 It wasn't me yer honner...it was them damn Duke boys. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-08-17 11:00 |
| #7 You hit the nail on the head .com. Depraved and craven are too nice to describe the dynamics. Is anybody's death ever "honored" by a familymember misusing it like a blunt political football stained, ripped and covered in dirt. When the attention dies down and she's abandoned by the skeleton crew using her and her madness, she'll be discarded like an empty peanut shell the squirrels have worked over for all it's worth. She'll have to live with herself and what she's done. She talks about how hard her son's death is to take, but she has a whole other league of hurt coming to her over the near horizon. |
| Posted by: MunkarKat 2005-08-17 08:53 |
| #6 I bet it would be a good place, down there by the road, to set up a nice hog pen. Maybe a chicken coop. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2005-08-17 05:33 |
| #5 While my heart is all with .com, my head tells me that this is one of those times when "the best answer to a fool is silence." Sheehan and her ilk will wither and die without publicity. Ignore them and they'll go away. |
| Posted by: mac 2005-08-17 05:32 |
| #4 Highway department rules are plain and simple. You will NOT place signs of any kind on the right of way, if you do, and refuse to remove them, you go to jail. The people who planted those little crosses are the real lawbreakers. Not the guy (Yea) who mowed them down. If anyone forgets, the shoulder is made to be driven on by motor vehicles, the guy is innocent of any charges, and should sue the sign planters for any damage to his truck. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-08-17 02:07 |
| #3 To reduce honorable service and the ultimate sacrifice to rank political theater and farcical burlesque in the service of this bizarre dementia is to confirm beyond any doubt the ghoulish depravity of these Moonbats. Fuck sympathy, this witch and her coven of users, leeches, and puppet masters deserve to be tarred and feathered and ridden out of the county on a sharp splintery rail - just as such subhuman offal would have been dealt with back when America was not shackled by absurd PCism and faux civility. Indeed, as an astute poster noted yesterday, she is a vampire. The ultimate narcissist. One of the sham crosses should be driven through the hole where this bloodless shrieker's heart should be. My disgust hardens more each day into hatred for her and the circus of soulless freaks and media whores who've pitched their tents and made a grotesque calculated mockery of Casey Sheehan's death. I sympathize with her soon-to-be Ex-husband, the families, and Casey's fellows, the effect of her unfathomable and sudden leap into insanity must be to increase their grief ten-fold. This defines travesty and betrayal. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-08-17 01:04 |
| #2 Unbelievable how they are able to get away with setting up a camp with porta-pottys 3 thus far and create a make shift camp on an ACTIVE road. Doesn't sound that safe to me. Not to mention all of the news media circus stopping by for visits. There should be a crowd setting up a camp representing the neighbor now in defense of his actions to protest his criminal mischief charge. Might as well throw in a donations box. By the way what's the speed limit on that road? 55? |
| Posted by: Jan 2005-08-17 01:03 |
| #1 Are there any anti-loitering local ordinances? Use them. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-08-17 00:38 |