Infowars.com just spoke with Karen Bernal, Volunteer Coordinator at the the Crawford Peace House who confirmed that the arrests began at around 9:30 AM this morning. Hadi Jawad co-founder of the Peace House tells us that 15 people were arrested, including Daniel Ellsberg and Dede Miller, Cindy Sheehan's sister.

Three months ago, McLennan County Texas passed an unconstitutional ordinance banning parking or standing on hundreds of miles of rural roadway. This is the equivalent of a giant free speech ban, mirroring similar freedom destroying free speech zones used across the country to stop protestors from getting information to the media.

This is a despicable attack on the First Amendment deep in the heart of Texas and needs to be challenged. We will post more information as it develops.

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Protesters gather again near Bush's ranch

AP | November 23, 2005
ANGELA K. BROWN

CRAWFORD, Texas - More than a dozen war protesters returned to a roadside near President Bush's ranch before dawn Wednesday, defying two new local bans on roadside camping and parking.

About an hour after the group pitched tents and huddled in sleeping bags and blankets, a McLennan County sheriff's deputy arrived and warned the group to leave or face arrest.

Protester and former U.S. diplomat Ann Wright told the deputy that most of the group would stay because they believed the bans restrict their free-speech rights. The deputy said the group would have two more warnings before he started making arrests.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan wasn't among the protesters Wednesday because of a family emergency in California, but she planned to arrive at the camp later in the week. The protest was set to coincide with Bush's Thanksgiving ranch visit.

"We are proud to be here," Dede Miller, Sheehan's sister, said Wednesday as she huddled in a blanket at the campsite. "This is just so important. What we did in August really moved us forward, and this is just a continuation of it."

In August, hundreds of demonstrators camped off the road during a 26-day protest led by Cindy Sheehan, whose 24-year-old soldier son Casey was killed in Iraq last year. But a month later, county commissioners banned camping in any county ditch and parking within a 7-mile radius of the ranch, citing safety and traffic congestion issues.

Earlier this week, three demonstrators filed a federal lawsuit against McLennan County over the two local bans.

But the demonstrators said their protest would continue, even if they were arrested. The peace activists have set up camp at a private 1-acre lot that a sympathetic landowner let them use the last several weeks of their summer protest. The land is about a mile from Bush's ranch.