From Reuters via MSNBC:

Protest campsite moving closer to Bush ranch

Relative of man who fired shotgun offers space to antiwar demonstrators

Reuters

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

The piece of private property was offered by a relative of a man who had fired a 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 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.

‘I support what you all are doing’

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 antiwar 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.

Signs of tension

In the latest sign of tension, a man in a pickup trunk 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.

Oh George Bush, right across from our church. How will you be able to talk to God Sunday with them so near.