Cindy Sheehan arrested at White House in anti-war protest

On Monday, at least 61 of 500 demonstrators were arrested at an anti-war protest in front of the White House, including leader Cindy Sheehan.

Former 2008 California Congressional candidate and mother of a fallen soldier, Cindy Sheehan, was arrested on Monday at an anti-war protest in front of the White House after she chained herself to the fence, according to CNN. Protesters dressed all in black and Sheehan’s shirt said the words “Greed Kills.” The group was heard yelling chants of “mourn the dead, heal the wounded, end the war!" Sheehan told the large gathering of demonstrators she never supported either Presidential candidates Barack Obama or John McCain. "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," she said. An estimated 500 people, according to Common Dreams, from different organizations such as Code Pink, World Can’t Wait and Veterans for Peace were in attendance. Protesters were enraged of military presence still in Afghanistan and Pakistan and hundreds of the protesters chanted, sang and had puppets of the former Bush administration’s Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice and others in prison pinstripes. Organizers told CBS News, “On their backs, they wore the names of Guantanamo detainees cleared for release who remain detained under the Obama administration despite the White House’s heralded decision to shutter the prison.” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters the President was unaware of the protest until it was mentioned in the daily Presidential briefings. “I think the president has long believed that whether your opinion is on one side of the issue or the other, that this is the -- the greatness of our country is that you get to amplify that opinion," he said. Park police officials confirmed that all of demonstrators arrested were cited and released from custody. Cindy Sheehan’s son, Casey, died in Iraq in 2004 and ever since then she has protested the wars in the Middle East.