Cindy Sheehan

Cindy Sheehan was born Cindy Lee Miller in Inglewood, California, in 1957. Her father worked at the Lockheed Corporation while her mother raised her family. Sheehan graduated with honors from Cerritos College and studied history at UCLA. She worked as a youth minister at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Vacaville, California for eight years, and also coordinated an after-school program for at-risk middle school children for the City of Vacaville.

File:Casey Sheehan.jpg

Casey Austin Sheehan (May 29, 1979 – April 4, 2004) was a specialist in the United States Army who was killed during combat action while serving in the Iraq War.

In May 2000, Casey Sheehan enlisted in the United States Army as a light-wheeled vehicle mechanic, MOS 63B. It has been reported that he may have considered enlisting as a chaplain assistant

MOS 56M. (Sheehan had acted as an altar server during the Palm Sunday mass on the morning of his death).[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42498-2005Feb21.html For Some, a Loss in Iraq Turns Into Antiwar Activism: Gold Star Families Band Together to 'Make People Care'], The Washington Post, February 22, 2005

Near the end of his active service, the 2003 invasion of Iraq began. Sheehan reenlisted, knowing that his unit would be sent there.[http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=1860 Cindy Sheehan Has an Agenda] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307193953/http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=1860 |date=2017-03-07 }}, American Chronicle Sheehan's division, the First Cavalry Division, was sent to Iraq. On March 19, 2004, Sheehan's Battery C, 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, arrived at FOB Camp War Eagle in Sadr City. On April 4, 2004, Sheehan was killed in action after volunteering to be part of a Quick Reaction Force to rescue American troops in the "Black Sunday" incident that began the Siege of Sadr City.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/inside-ambush-black-sunday/story?id=50962302|title=Inside the ambush known as Black Sunday|website=ABC News}}

Casey Sheehan is buried in Vacaville-Elmira Cemetery in Vacaville, California. In May 2006, the tombstone that Casey's family had been designing and commissioned was finally ready and placed at Casey's grave. Cindy Sheehan paid for the tombstone herself, which is normally the case, stating, "It is important for the rest of Casey's family to have one.... I guess the pain of seeing it etched in marble that he is dead is another pain I will have to deal with." Cindy Sheehan maintains that the U.S. government "should have paid for it because of its responsibility for his death." The Sheehan family did not want the furnished monument that the government provides because it didn't reflect Casey's entire life or personality.

Casey Sheehan was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with V for Valor posthumously for his actions April 4, 2004.[http://www.blackfive.net/main/2005/08/army_specialist.html Army Specialist Casey Sheehan - Someone You Should (Have) Know(n)], Blackfive blog The chapel at Fort Cavazos started a new Knights of Columbus chapter that was named the Specialist Casey Austin Sheehan Council.[http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081305B.shtml Mother's Vigil Recalls Quiet, Dedicated Son] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080519215203/http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/081305B.shtml |date=May 19, 2008 }}, Associated Press, August 13, 2005

File:Casey Sheehan Photo.jpg on October 2, 2004.]]

Sheehan has said she initially questioned the urgency of the invasion of Iraq but did not become active in the antiwar effort until after her son's death.{{cite web| url=http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/10/int04050.html| publisher=BuzzFlash| work=BuzzFlash Interviews| title=Cindy Sheehan Is Working To Bring Our Troops Home: "Mr. President. You have daughters. How would you feel if one of them was killed?"| date=2004-10-07| access-date=2007-04-08| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423184537/http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/10/int04050.html| archive-date=2007-04-23| url-status=dead}} Sheehan and other military families met with President George W. Bush in June 2004 at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington, about three months after her son's death. In a June 24, 2004, interview with the Vacaville Reporter, published soon after the meeting, she stated, "We haven't been happy with the way the war has been handled. The president has changed his reasons for being over there every time a reason is proven false or an objective reached." She also stated that President Bush was "sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis. I know [he] feels pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of God."{{Cite news| last = Henson | first = David | title = Bush, Sheehans share moments | newspaper = The Reporter | location = Vacaville, CA | date = 2004-06-24 }} Sheehan gave another interview on October 4, 2004, stating that she did not understand the reasons for the Iraq invasion and never thought that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States. She further stated that her son's death had compelled her to speak out against the war.

For the presidential inauguration in January 2005, Sheehan traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak at the opening of "Eyes Wide Open: the Human Cost of War," a traveling exhibition created by the American Friends Service Committee that displays pairs of combat boots to represent U.S. military casualties.{{cite web| url=http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/02/con05067.html| first=Cindy| last=Sheehan| publisher=BuzzFlash| work=BuzzFlash Reader Contribution| title=1492 Empty Pairs of Boots| date=2005-02-28| access-date=2007-04-08| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070329131333/http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/02/con05067.html| archive-date=2007-03-29| url-status=dead}} She also traveled with the exhibition to other locations and donated her son Casey's boots, stating, "Behind these boots is one broken-hearted family."{{cite news|url=http://www.catholicpeacefellowship.org/nextpage.asp?m=2107 |title=Anti-war memorial stirring passions among parents |publisher=Catholicpeacefellowship.org |date=2005-03-10 |access-date=2010-04-10}}{{cite news| url= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/26/BAGTBBV26U1.DTL| first=Joe| last=Garofoli| publisher=San Francisco Chronicle| title = Empty boots are silent testament to war's toll| date=2005-03-26| access-date=2007-04-08}} Sheehan was one of the nine founding members of Gold Star Families for Peace, an organization she created in January 2005 with other families she met at the inauguration. It seeks to end U.S. presence in Iraq, and provides support for families of soldiers killed in Iraq.Michael A. Fletcher, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/12/AR2005081201816.html Cindy Sheehan's Pitched Battle], Washington, August 13, 2005.

Sheehan gained international attention in early August 2005, when she traveled to President Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch, just outside Crawford, Texas, demanding a second meeting with the President.{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/06/AR2005080601337.html| newspaper=The Washington Post |title= Mother of Fallen Soldier Protests at Bush Ranch| date=2005-08-07| access-date=2011-08-22}}{{cite web |url=http://www.veteransforpeace.org/convention05/sheehan_transcript.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061101054305/http://www.veteransforpeace.org/convention05/sheehan_transcript.htm| archive-date=2006-11-01| title= Cindy Sheehan Address Veterans For Peace Convention, August 5, 2005| access-date=August 22, 2011}} She told members of Veterans for Peace, "I'm gonna say, 'And you tell me, what the noble cause is that my son died for.' And if he even starts to say freedom and democracy, I'm gonna say, bullshit. You tell me the truth. You tell me that my son died for oil. You tell me that my son died to make your friends rich.... You tell me that, you don't tell me my son died for freedom and democracy." She also vowed not to pay her federal income tax for 2004 because that was the year her son was killed.

{{Main|Camp Casey, Crawford, Texas}}

On August 6, 2005, Sheehan arrived at the Crawford Peace House on a bus full of combat veterans, including Desert Storm Veteran Dennis Kyne and Camilo Mejía. They marched along a dirt road in the direction of The Bush Ranch. Stalled by law enforcement from walking all the way to the front door because the group refused to march as ordered in the Barr ditch, she created a makeshift camp that would be remembered as the "ditch". Three miles (5 km) from President Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas, Sheehan announced her intention to stay (sleeping in a pup tent at night) until she was granted a face-to-face meeting with the president.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kcentv.com/news/c-article.php?cid=1&nid=7708|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070624205253/http://www.kcentv.com/news/c-article.php?cid=1&nid=7708|url-status=dead|title=Mom of soldier killed in Iraq stages protest near Bush's ranch|archive-date=June 24, 2007}} Sheehan started her protest the day the president started a planned five-week vacation. The encampment was publicized widely on behalf of Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out. A few days later, the media began referring to Sheehan's camp as "Camp Casey."{{cite news|url=http://www.khou.com/news/state/stories/khou050808_gj_outwornwelcome.54eae939.html |title=Grieving mom may have worn out welcome outside Bush's ranch |access-date=2010-04-10 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080324012123/http://www.khou.com/news/state/stories/khou050808_gj_outwornwelcome.54eae939.html |archive-date = March 24, 2008}} Image:CindySheehanSupportRally08-17-05.JPG

Sheehan spent most of the next four weeks in Crawford, drawing global media coverage.{{Cite web |last=Engler |first=Mark |last2=Engler |first2=Paul |date=2024-08-19 |title=How to Make Sure Your Disruptive Protest Helps Your Cause |url=https://commonslibrary.org/how-to-make-sure-your-disruptive-protest-helps-your-cause/ |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}} On some days as many as 1,500 supporters visited Camp Casey,{{cite news |url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050813/APN/508130949&cachetime=3&template=dateline |title=Tuscaloosa News |publisher=Tuscaloosa News |access-date=2010-04-10 |archive-date=2009-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611100909/http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050813/APN/508130949&cachetime=3&template=dateline |url-status=dead }} including members of the U.S. Congress, as well as several notable actors, singers, and civil rights activists.

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.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/archive/2005/08/gold-star-families-for-pe_5552.html |title=Gold Star Families For Peace Launches New Ad Supporting Cindy Sheehan |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=2005-08-12 |access-date=2010-04-10 |first=Alex |last=MacCallum}} The group conducted a walk to a police station just outside Bush's ranch and delivered a bundle of oversized letters written by them to First Lady Laura Bush, appealing to her as a mother to support their movement.{{cite web|url=http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid=2005082014748 |title=Please Convince the President, First Lady Laura Bush |publisher=English.donga.com |date=2005-08-20 |access-date=2010-04-10}}

On August 16, 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.{{cite web|last=Brown |first=Angela |title=Neighbor Allows War Protesters to Camp on his Land |work=Common Dreams.org / AP |date=2005-08-17 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0817-06.htm |access-date=2011-10-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617011936/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0817-06.htm |archive-date=2013-06-17 }}

In late August, Sheehan stated that she would continue to campaign against the Iraq war even if granted a meeting with Bush. 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. The tour, which covered 42 cities in 26 states, was publicized by the Mintwood Media Collective, and garnered international media coverage. On the third day, Sheehan and about 370 other antiwar activists were arrested for demonstrating on the White House sidewalk.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/26/AR2005092600143.html "White House Sidewalk Protest Leads to Arrest of About 370"], Washington Post, September 27, 2005

Sheehan's actions led supporters such as Rev. Lennox Yearwood, CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, to describe her as "the Rosa Parks of the antiwar movement."{{cite web| url=http://www.bloggernews.net/showstory.asp?page=blognews/stories/UP0000471.txt| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509222713/http://www.bloggernews.net/showstory.asp?page=blognews%2Fstories%2FUP0000471.txt| archive-date=2006-05-09| title=Cindy Sheehan's Iraq War Protest: A Woman Scorned| access-date=2011-08-22| url-status=usurped}} Sheehan also gained the label of "Peace Mom" from the mainstream media.{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/18/crawford.protest/| first=Bash, Dana| last=Meucci, Jason| publisher=CNN| title=Sheehan leaves antiwar camp| date=2005-08-19| access-date=2007-04-08}}{{cite news|author=Sean Alfano |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/joan-baez-joins-peace-moms-cause/ |title=Joan Baez Joins Peace Mom's Cause |publisher=Cbsnews.com |date=2005-08-22 |access-date=2010-04-10}}{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-24-peacemom-returns_x.htm?csp=34 |title='Peace Mom' returns to Texas to continue anti-war protest |publisher=Usatoday.com |date=2005-08-24 |access-date=2010-04-10}}

In September 2005, Sheehan moved into the Berkeley, California, home of Stephen Pearcy and Virginia Pearcy,{{cite web|url=http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?archiveDate=10-18-05&storyID=22543|title=Cindy Sheehan Moves to Berkeley, Joins Call for National Guard Return By RICHARD BRENNEMAN. Category: Features from The Berkeley Daily Planet|first=Berkeley Daily Planet, Berkeley|last=California}}{{cite news|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/03/19/INGEQHOQAA1.DTL&type=printable|title=THE DEFIANT WAR / When it began three years ago, few people could have anticipated that the combat in Iraq would last so long or that the enemy would become a stubborn and resilient insurgency / Cindy Sheehan's year of living famously|newspaper=Sfgate |date=19 March 2006 |last1=Haddock |first1=Vicki }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.law.com/jsp/llf/PubArticleLLF.jsp?id=1188982955198|title=Law.com|accessdate=25 February 2024}} where she lived for just over a year, during which time she wrote two books. Also that month, Sheehan met with Senator John McCain, and later called him a "warmonger."{{Cite news | last = House | first = Billy | title = 'Peace Mom' Assails McCain | newspaper = Arizona Republic | url = http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0928mccain-sheehan.html | access-date = 2011-08-22}} Between 2005 and 2007, Sheehan attended several antiwar events in Sacramento organized by the Pearcys.{{cite web|url=http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=234393 |title=SN&R > Local Stories > The Cindy Sheehan show > 11.02.06 |date=November 2006 |publisher=Newsreview.com |access-date=2010-04-10}}{{cite news|author=semp |url=http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/10/15/17748051.php |title=Anti War Pics from Sacramento 10 15 05 |publisher=Indybay |date=2005-10-15 |access-date=2010-04-10}}{{cite news|last=Pearcy |first=Stephen |url=http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/01/15/18347484.php |title=Cindy Sheehan to attend two BIG events Friday in Sacramento |publisher=Indybay |date=2007-01-15 |access-date=2010-04-10}}{{cite web|url=http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=271454 |title=SN&R > Columns > Bites > The party's over > 01.25.07 |date=24 January 2007 |publisher=Newsreview.com |access-date=2010-04-10}}{{cite news|last=Pearcy |first=Stephen |url=http://sfbay.indymedia.org/newsitems/2007/05/06/18410720.php |title=Sheehan and Others Converge Upon Matsui's Home : Indybay |publisher=Sfbay.indymedia.org |date=2007-05-06 |access-date=2010-04-10}}{{cite news|last=Pearcy |first=Stephen |url=http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/30/18324976.php |title=Democratic Congressional Candidate's Wife Asks Sheehan Not To Protest Iraq War |publisher=Indybay |date=2006-10-30 |access-date=2010-04-10}} Also in September 2005, the Bring Them Home Now Tour was organized by Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace. Inspired by Sheehan and frequently including Sheehan as a speaker, it was a rolling antiwar protest against the Iraq War, beginning in Crawford, Texas, traveling three routes across the country (with rallies along the way) and culminating in a rally in Washington, D.C., later in September 2005.

On October 24, 2005, Sheehan said that she planned to speak at the White House and then tie herself to the fence.{{cite news |author=Kristen Lombardi |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0543,lombardiqa,69280,2.html |title=Mother of All Protesters |publisher=Villagevoice.com |date=2005-10-18 |access-date=2010-04-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829185044/http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0543%2Clombardiqa%2C69280%2C2.html |archive-date=2008-08-29 }} She and 28 others were arrested in a sit-in at the White House on October 26.Henri E. Cauvin, [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-69468.html Sheehan Found Guilty In White House Protest; Federal Judge Fines 29 Antiwar Activists], The Washington Post, November 18, 2005.

Sheehan visited London in early December 2005 and was interviewed by BBC Radio 4{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2005_49_fri_05.shtml?wkp |title=On her son's death and meeting Mr Bush |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |access-date=2010-04-10 |archive-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629055445/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2005_49_fri_05.shtml?wkp |url-status=dead }} and by The Guardian.{{cite news|author=Duncan Campbell |url=https://www.theguardian.com/antiwar/story/0,,1663388,00.html |title='I feel I'm carrying the world on my shoulders' |publisher=Guardian |date= 2005-12-09|access-date=2010-04-10 | location=London}} On December 10, Sheehan addressed the International Peace Conference, organized by the Stop the War Coalition. Later in the evening, she attended the London Premiere of Peace Mom, a play written by Dario Fo about her,{{cite web |url=http://www.dariofo.it/files/peace%20mom%20FoRame%20(English).pdf |title=PDF |access-date=2010-04-10 |archive-date=2009-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928174107/http://www.dariofo.it/files/peace%20mom%20FoRame%20(English).pdf |url-status=dead }} in which the role of Sheehan was played by Frances de la Tour. On December 13, Sheehan traveled to Ireland, where she met Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern. She voiced her objection to U.S. aircraft refueling at Shannon Airport, stating, "Your government, even though they didn't send troops to Iraq, are complicit in the crimes by allowing the planes to land and refuel."{{cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=672721 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220131638/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=672721 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-02-20 |title=Belfast Telegraph |publisher=Belfast Telegraph |access-date=2010-04-10 }}

On January 31, 2006, Sheehan wore a T-shirt reading "2,245 Dead. How many more?" to Bush's State of the Union address and was removed and arrested by Capitol Police.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/31/sheehan.arrest/index.html |title=Activist Sheehan arrested in House gallery |publisher=Cnn.com |access-date=2010-04-10}}

File:Civil Rights Defence demonstration outside Victorian Liberal Party offices.jpg, May 2006.]]

On March 7, 2006, Sheehan was arrested in New York "after blocking the door to the U.S. Mission to the U.N. offices" during a protest with Iraqi women against the war.{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna11706772 |title=Cindy Sheehan arrested during NYC protest |work=NBC News |date=2006-03-07 |access-date=2010-04-10}}

Sheehan and Gold Star Families for Peace were awarded the 'Domestic Human Rights Award' by Global Exchange, an international human rights organization based in San Francisco.

Several organizations planned a hunger strike to begin on July 4, 2006;{{cite web|url=http://troopshomefast.org |title=troopshomefast.org |publisher=troopshomefast.org |date=2006-07-04 |access-date=2010-04-10}} Sheehan stated she would participate. On July 5, Sheehan appeared on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews to discuss the war and her upcoming hunger strike. On the show, she called Bush "the biggest terrorist in the world" and "worse than Osama bin Laden," and conceded that she would rather live under Venezuela's Hugo Chávez than Bush.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna13735484 |title='Hardball with Chris Matthews' for July 5 |work=NBC News |date=2006-07-06 |access-date=2010-04-10}} Later that month, Sheehan purchased {{convert|5|acre|m2}} of land in Crawford, Texas, near Bush's private residence.

On May 26 and May 28, 2007, Sheehan posted two messages to Daily Kos announcing that she was leaving the Democratic Party after the Democratic-controlled Congress passed a bill authorizing the continued funding of the war in Iraq.{{cite web |url=http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/26/10135/7518 |title=Dear Democratic Congress |author=Cindy Sheehan |publisher=Daily Kos |date=May 26, 2007}} She also submitted her resignation as the "face" of the American antiwar movement, stating that she wanted to go home and be a mother to her surviving children. However, on July 3, 2007, in response to President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence, she announced her return to activism.U.S. Conflicts in the 21st Century: Afghanistan War, Iraq War, and the War on Terror [3 volumes]: Afghanistan War, Iraq War, and the War on Terror, Spencer C. Tucker, ABC-CLIO, 2015, [https://books.google.com/books?id=d8EnCwAAQBAJ&dq=sheehan+Scooter+Libby+bush+2007+activism&pg=PA787 p.787] She focused on her congressional campaign in 2008.

In August 2009, Sheehan protested at Martha's Vineyard during President Barack Obama's stay there. According to ABC News: "Sheehan invoked Senator Ted Kennedy's passing as part of her message, noting that he was firmly antiwar and how he said his proudest vote as a senator was his 2002 vote against the Iraq war."{{cite news|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/cindy-sheehan-brings-antiwar-antiobama-message-to-marthas-vineyard.html |title=Cindy Sheehan Brings Anti-War, Anti-Obama Message to Martha's Vineyard - Political Punch |publisher=Blogs.abcnews.com |date=2009-08-27 |access-date=2010-04-10}} On October 5, 2009, Sheehan was arrested with 60 others at the White House protesting President Obama's continuation of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She told CNN: "I think the mood of the country and the mood of our movement is getting a little bit more desperate, and [that] this will be the time to be able to translate our tireless activism and work for peace."[http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/10/05/Scores-arrested-in-protest-at-White-House/UPI-27941254788775/ Scores arrested in protest at White House], UPI, October 5, 2009. On December 10, 2009, Sheehan protested on the streets of Oslo, Norway, as President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.[http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/11/headlines#3 Thousands Protest Obama Outside Nobel Ceremony], Democracy Now!, December 11, 2009. In 2009, she was awarded The US Peace Prize by the US Peace Memorial Foundation for “extraordinary and innovative antiwar activism."{{cite web |title=Cindy Sheehan awarded 2009 US Peace Prize |url=https://www.uspeaceprize.org/ |publisher=US Peace Memorial Foundation |access-date=22 November 2019}}

On March 20, 2010, Sheehan was again arrested in front of the White House, along with seven others, after they refused to listen to orders by officers of the United States Park Police to clear the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue.{{cite news|url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/03/ap_iraq_war_protests_032010/|title=Thousands rally on anniversary of Iraq invasion|last=Barakat|first=Matthew|date=21 March 2010|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Marine Corps Times|access-date=22 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714034338/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/03/ap_iraq_war_protests_032010/|archive-date=14 July 2011}} On July 12, Sheehan and four other activists were on trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia stemming from the arrests. The government decided not to try three others arrested that day, and had their cases dismissed. Sheehan and two others were acquitted of crossing a police line, while the other two were found guilty.{{cite news|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/celebrities/sheehan-cleared-in-dc-protest.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010201516/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/celebrities/sheehan-cleared-in-dc-protest.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 10, 2012|title=Sheehan cleared in D.C. protest case|date=13 July 2010|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=The Washington Post}}

On May 2, 2011, Sheehan released a statement indicating that she considers the death of Osama bin Laden to be a hoax, stating: "If you believe the newest death of OBL, you're stupid." She referred to America as a

"lying, murderous empire" and told Americans, whom she called "brainwashed," to "put [their] flags away."{{cite news |title=Osama photo decision fuels conspiracy theories |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/141402/20110504/osama-photo-decision-fuels-conspiracy-theories.htm |newspaper=International Business Times |date=May 4, 2011 |access-date=May 5, 2011}}

In October 2011, Sheehan was arrested in Sacramento as part of an anti–Wall Street movement.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/anti-war-activist-cindy-sheehan-18-other-wall-street-protesters-arrested-in-sacramento/2011/10/16/gIQAkm1KpL_story.html|title=Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, 18 other Wall Street protesters arrested in Sacramento|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=20 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209122812/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/anti-war-activist-cindy-sheehan-18-other-wall-street-protesters-arrested-in-sacramento/2011/10/16/gIQAkm1KpL_story.html|archive-date=9 December 2018|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

Although Sheehan agreed to run as the vice presidential nominee of the Socialist Party USA for the 2012 elections, the party's national convention voted on October 15, 2011, to block her candidacy, on the official grounds that she was not a member of the party.{{cite web|url=http://socialist-tea.com/2011/10/19/how-the-spusa-2012-ticket-came-to-be|title=How the SPUSA 2012 Ticket came to be|publisher=www.socialist-tea.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308150628/http://www.socialist-tea.com/2011/10/19/how-the-spusa-2012-ticket-came-to-be|archive-date=March 8, 2012|url-status=dead}} The nomination went to Alejandro Mendoza, of Texas.

In 2017, when the U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to announce the sending of thousands of additional troops, Sheehan feared that more opposition to the war would be only because of who occupies the presidency, stating, "If Trump announces that there will be a continued U.S. military presence or an increased presence, I am afraid any opposition from the 'left' will only be anti-Trump, because, of course, Obama escalated in Afghanistan and maintained that illegal war for the entire eight years of his presidency with not a peep from those same pro-DNC forces." Additionally, she believes "nothing but total withdrawal to give the people of Afghanistan autonomy over their own country will be acceptable" but said that she's concerned about the sincerity of possible protests.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/antiwar-activists-seek-boost-from-trumps-afghanistan-announcement|title=Antiwar activists seek boost from Trump's Afghanistan announcement|date=21 August 2017|website=Washington Examiner}}

Sheehan hosts a weekly radio show which began in 2009. She has interviewed activists and world leaders, including Howard Zinn, Ray McGovern, Ann Wright, and Hugo Chávez. Sheehan maintains a blog, "Cindy's Soapbox."{{Cite web|url=http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/|title=Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox|website=cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com|accessdate=25 February 2024}}

In 2012, Sheehan was sued by the federal government for failure to pay back taxes. "I feel like I gave my son to this country in an illegal and immoral war. I'll never get him back," Sheehan said. "And, so, if they can give me my son back, then I'll pay my taxes. And that's not going to happen."{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/22/us/california-sheehan-taxes/index.html |title=Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan won't pay back taxes |date= 2012-02-22|access-date=2012-02-22 |work=CNN}} Sheehan appeared in court on April 19, 2012, and in IRS offices on May 9, 2012, refusing to provide information on the basis of the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment.{{cite web | author = National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee |year = 2012| title = Sheehan Case Update | url = https://nwtrcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/mtap0812.pdf |access-date= 2022-11-03 }}{{cite web | author = Sheehan, Cindy |year = 2012| title = Conscience and the Constitution: They Fought on their own Battlefield | url = https://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/2012/05/conscience-and-constitution-they-fought.html |access-date= 2022-11-03 }} The government dropped its case against her in February 2013.{{cite web | author = National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee |year = 2013| title = Congratulations, Cindy Sheehan | url = https://nwtrcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/mtap0413.pdf |access-date= 2022-11-03 }}

File:Cindy Sheehan runs for Congress.JPG

In July 2007, Sheehan announced that she would run against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for representative of California's 8th District, based on Pelosi's failure to attempt impeachment of Bush.{{cite news| title = Sheehan arrested while calling for Bush, Cheney impeachment | agency =Associated Press | publisher = CNN | date = July 23, 2007 | url = http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/23/sheehan.impeachment.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch| access-date=January 9, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080323114931/http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/23/sheehan.impeachment.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch |archive-date = March 23, 2008}} Up until her run for the U.S. Congress, Sheehan lived outside Pelosi's district, in Dixon, California; however, she moved to San Francisco's Mission District after declaring her candidacy.{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19665569 |title=Sheehan weighs run against Pelosi |work=NBC News |date=July 8, 2007}} Earlier, in 2006, she had spoken of ambitions to challenge Dianne Feinstein for her seat in the United States Senate.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-28-sheehan-senate_x.htm |title=Sheehan considers challenging Sen. Feinstein |work=USA Today |date=January 28, 2006}}

Sheehan ran on a platform of single-payer health care, media reform, overturning all free trade agreements, repealing the Patriot Act, renewable energy, nationalizing oil and electricity, ending the War on Drugs, legalizing cannabis, ensuring all talks in the Middle East are fair to all parties, ending torture, closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp, overseas commitment to cleaning up Superfund sites, ending deregulation, ending No Child Left Behind, and legalizing same-sex marriage.{{cite web |url=http://www.cindyforcongress.org/article.php?list=type&type=13 |title=Cindy Sheehan For Congress |publisher=Cindyforcongress.org |access-date=2010-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223180949/http://www.cindyforcongress.org/article.php?list=type&type=13 |archive-date=2009-02-23 |url-status=dead }} Sheehan lost the 2008 election to the incumbent Pelosi. In a seven-way race, Sheehan came in second with 46,118 votes (16.14%) to Pelosi's 71.56%.{{cite web |url=http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=1793 |title=SFGOV |publisher=SFGOV |access-date=2010-10-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704024244/http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=1793 |archive-date=2013-07-04 }}

In the summer of 2012, television personality Roseanne Barr named Sheehan as her running mate for the presidential nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party in the 2012 presidential election. Barr and Sheehan were nominated by that party as its presidential ticket on August 4, 2012.{{cite web | url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/roseanne-finally-won-a-presidential-nomination.html | title=Roseanne Barr Finally Won a Presidential Nomination | work=New York | date=August 5, 2012 | access-date=August 5, 2012 | author=Bankoff, Caroline}}

On March 12, 2013 Marsha Feinland, state chair of California's Peace and Freedom Party, made the announcement that the central committee of the party had unanimously endorsed Cindy Sheehan for Governor of California in the 2014 election, should Sheehan choose to run. Sheehan formally announced her campaign for Governor of California at a news conference Tuesday, August 27, 2013, at the State Capitol in Sacramento.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Sheehan said she planned to unseat incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown, and to bring California "peace, economic equality and environmental sustainability," and reforms through an EPIC (End Poverty in California) program. Her EPIC campaign harkened to the End Poverty in California movement campaign of the 1934 California gubernatorial candidate Upton Sinclair. Sinclair garnered 879,537 votes in that race.{{cite web|title=California Democratic Primary, 1934|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=103765|access-date=November 1, 2019}}

Sheehan has, through her own blog, described herself as a socialist.{{cite web|title=A Socialist's Response to The Greatest American Scoundrel Show (Debate)|date=4 October 2012|url=http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/a-socialists-resonse-to-greatest.html|publisher=Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox|access-date=October 4, 2012}} She has also criticized capitalism.{{cite web|url=https://www.eurasiareview.com/19022020-cindy-sheehan-socialism-for-the-ill-informed-oped/|title=Cindy Sheehan: Socialism For The Ill-Informed – OpEd|date=February 12, 2020|access-date=December 21, 2020|work=Eurasia Review}} In 2010, Sheehan changed her voter registration in California and became a member of the Peace and Freedom Party.[http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/component/content/article/12-general/752-cindy-sheehan-joins-peace-and-freedom Cindy Sheehan Joins Peace and Freedom] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210043609/http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/component/content/article/12-general/752-cindy-sheehan-joins-peace-and-freedom |date=2017-02-10 }}. Peace and Freedom Party. Sheehan has expressed opposition to COVID-19 restrictions, mask mandates, and vaccine mandates.{{cite web|url=https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2021/03/01/cindy-sheehan-open-the-schools/|title=Cindy Sheehan: Open the schools|date=March 1, 2021|access-date=November 3, 2022|work=Times-Herald}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thereporter.com/2020/08/02/cindy-sheehan-youth-deserve-better/|title=Cindy Sheehan: Youth deserve better |date=August 2, 2020|access-date=November 3, 2022|work=The Reporter}}{{cite web|url=https://cindysheehan.substack.com/p/un-jabbed-black-dc-teens-denied-schooling|title=DC Mayor Says No Digital Learning, Giving Unvaccinated Black Teens Zero Alternative Option|date=August 25, 2022|access-date=November 3, 2022}} She published a paper about former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's nursing home controversy.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

In 2024, Sheehan signed an open letter in support of a trans-exclusionary activist who was excluded from a Jewish Voice for Peace action for opposing trans rights.{{Cite web|url=http://oc-drl.site/Menasche%20open%20letter.html|title=OC/DRL|accessdate=25 February 2024}}

In 1977, she married Patrick Sheehan, a sales representative, in Norwalk, California; they had four children, including Casey Sheehan (born in 1979), who was killed in action in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Patrick Sheehan filed for divorce on August 12, 2005, citing irreconcilable differences.{{cite web|url=http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0815051sheehan2.html |title=The Smoking Gun |publisher=The Smoking Gun |access-date=2010-04-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003105359/http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0815051sheehan2.html |archive-date=2009-10-03 }}{{cite book|first1=Peter|last1=Fimrite|title=Activist mother sued for divorce / Vigil for dead son outside Bush ranch|url=https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/2005-08-16/news/17385299_1_patrick-sheehan-cindy-sheehan-president-bush-s-texas-ranch|access-date=May 6, 2010|date=August 16, 2005|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|publisher=Hearst Communications|location=San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.|isbn=9781416541059|issn=1932-8672|oclc=33123981|quote=Her husband, Patrick Sheehan, filed for divorce Friday in Solano County District Court, and he apparently wants to keep their house.}}

• Dear President Bush. San Francisco: City Lights Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|0872864545}}
• Peace Mom. San Francisco: City Lights Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|074329792X}}

• Views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Movement to impeach George W. Bush
• List of peace activists
• Reg Keys

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{wikiquote}}

{{Commons category}}

• [http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/ Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox Radio, blog and action page]
• Former blogs at [http://crawfordupdate.blogspot.com/ Crawford Update], [http://cindysheehan.dailykos.com/ DailyKos] and [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cindy-sheehan/ Huffington Post]
• [http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/19/cindy_sheehan_sets_up_camp_out Cindy Sheehan Sets Up "Camp Out Now" in Antiwar Protest] - video report by Democracy Now!
• [https://archive.today/20130122092531/http://www.eurasiareview.com/201005181918/cindy-sheehan-on-peace-heroes-albert-einstein.html Cindy Sheehan On "Peace Heroes: Albert Einstein"]. 18 May 2010.
• [http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/10/2010105104959212813.html Dissent in the age of Obama] - an article by Cindy Sheehan, 5 October 2010
• [http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/10/20101016133711604162.html Injustice in the age of Obama] - an article by Cindy Sheehan, 16 October 2010
• [https://www.thedailybeast.com/cindy-sheehan-bush-was-no-better-than-donald-trump Bush was No Better Than Donald Trump] - an interview between Cindy Sheehan and The Daily Beast, Oct. 23rd 2017.
• {{C-SPAN|1014888}}
• [http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/tam_715/ Cindy Sheehan Papers], Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University Special Collections

{{United States presidential election, 2012}}

{{anti-war}}

{{Authority control}}

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