Peace Vigil in Washington, DC

The Peace Vigil in Washington, DC began August 31, 2005. The Gold Star Families for Peace vigil in Crawford, Texas, ended when President George W. Bush cut short his 5-week vacation on his Crawford ranch three days early after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005.

The Washington, DC Peace Vigil
On August 11, 2005, Gold Star Families for Peace co-founder Cindy Sheehan said that she and others would move the vigil to Washington, D.C. "to continue applying pressure on the president amid what she sees as a 'turning tide' on popular sentiment on the war." 

In an August 25, 2005, briefing for reporters at Camp Casey, Sheehan said she that she was "planning an antiwar bus tour of the country next month, ending Sept. 24 in Washington, where she plans to set up a permanent vigil until Bush agrees to meet with her, as she has sought in Texas."

National Bus Tour
"Cindy also vowed she would lead a national bus tour beginning September 1 and ending September 24 in Washington D.C. That is the day that United for Peace and Justice and other anti-war groups are organizing a rally and march in D.C. Mark Anderson of the organization Eyes Wide Open also spoke at the press conference. Eyes Wide Open organized an exhibition on the human costs of the Iraq war that features a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military casualty. The group had been traveling with Casey's boots for the week."

Information: Bring Them Home Now Tour.org website.

Arrested
Cindy Sheehan "was among several hundred demonstrators who marched around the White House on Monday and then stopped in front and began singing and chanting 'Stop the war now!'," Associated Press's Jennifer C. Kerr reported September 25, 2005.

"Sheehan and several dozen other protesters sat down on the sidewalk after marching along the pedestrian walkway on Pennsylvania Avenue. Police warned them three times that they were breaking the law by failing to move along, then began making arrests. ... The demonstration is part of a broader anti-war effort on Capitol Hill organized by United for Peace and Justice, an umbrella group. Representatives from anti-war groups were meeting Monday with members of Congress to urge them to work to end the war and bring home the troops," Kerr wrote.