Woman who questioned first lady now is activist against the war

[paineinthearse]

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-0/112290540343900.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

Death of son in Iraq means different life for mom
Woman who questioned first lady now is activist against the war

Monday, August 01, 2005

BY KATIE WANG
Star-Ledger Staff

The firehall in Hamilton Township was alive with hundreds of giddy Republicans when Laura Bush stepped to the podium last September to deliver a campaign stump speech for her husband. The first lady was in the middle of her remarks about the war in Iraq when a loud, booming voice cut her off. "If this war is so justified, why aren't your children serving?" barked Sue Niederer.

All eyes turned to Niederer, a stout, bespectacled woman who stood wearing her dead son's floppy Army camouflage hat and a white T-shirt stamped with his wedding day photo and the message, "President Bush, You Killed My Son." The incident helped transform the real estate agent and high school substitute teacher from Mercer County into a leader for anti-war activists.

Since then, Niederer, 56, has traveled to Greece, Iowa and Washington, D.C., as a protester, often introduced as the T-shirt lady who stood up to Laura Bush. She works with a network of military families who have lost loved relatives in Iraq and want to bring the troops home. "She's amazing," said Cindy Sheehan, president of Gold Star Families, which opposes the war. "She's very out there, involved and very inspirational."

Niederer's activism is her way of coping with the loss of her only son, Army 2nd Lt. Seth Jeremy Dvorin, who was killed while defusing a roadside bomb on Feb. 3, 2004. He was a 24-year-old newlywed when he died. Since then, she has used her anger to drive her anti-war activities. "I want vindication," she said. "I want Bush and Rummy (Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld) standing in front of me with an apology to hundreds of those families and say, 'I was wrong.'" Niederer didn't always feel this way. When the war started, she was apathetic. Except for a stint as an Old Bridge councilwoman in the 1970s, she was not politically active. When the anti-war protesters hit the streets before the Iraqi invasion, she was at home.

more......

[FreedomAngel82]

1. God bless her

Always good to use your anger and frustrations instead of keeping it bottled up. Truth speaks to power!

[donheld]

2. God multiply her kind

We need all the help we can get.

[paineinthearse]

3. Sue Niederer bio from Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Niederer

Sue Niederer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sue Sapir-Niederer is a American political activist.

Niederer's son was First Lieutenant Seth Dvorin, a 24-year-old U.S. Army soldier in the 10th Mountain Division. Dvorin was killed on 3 February 2004 during the occupation of Iraq. Dvorin, who had just returned to Iraq after spending two weeks with his family, was killed after locating an Improvised Explosive Device. Since Dvorin's death, Niederer has campaigned against the reelection of George W. Bush and continued American military presence in Iraq. Niederer came to national prominence after she was arrested for disrupting a speech by First Lady Laura Bush in September 2004. Later criminal charges of "defiant trespass" against Niederer were dropped.

Niederer lives in Pennington, New Jersey (some sources say Hopewell). She entered a Bush-Cheney rally of about 700 at a firehouse in Hamilton on September 16, 2004. Niederer had a ticket to the rally, as required, and was wearing a T-shirt which read "President Bush You Killed My Son," with a picture of her son. During the Bush's speech, Niederer shouted "Why did my son have to die?" and "When are yours going to serve?" (a reference to Bush's children).

Bush supporters began a loud chant of "Four more years," quickly drowning Niederer out. Reports indicated that such a response to disruption was planned; one campaign volunteers was quoted as saying, "If anybody acts up, I just start chanting, 'Four more years!'" Some Bush supporters directly confronted Niederer, including one audience member who yelled, "Your son chose to fight in that war."

Niederer was forcibly removed from a by local police and Secret Service, who handcuffed her and placed her in the back of a police van.

Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr. issued a statement Friday defending the police for stopping Niederer from heckling the First Lady, but some free speech advocates felt the charge was unwarranted.

"It is our determination that the police officers had more than enough probable cause to arrest Ms. Sapir-Niederer and were justified in the their actions," said Bocchini. "Taking all factors into consideration, including the recent loss of her son while serving in the armed forces in Iraq, I believe that the continued prosecution of the this matter would serve no useful purpose." <1>

Links
CBS reports arrest, September 17, 2004
CNN report on that story
CBS Photo journal of Niederer
Police dismiss charges against woman who interrupted first lady
Her Son Was Told by the Recruiter He Wouldn't See Combat; Now He's Dead - Counterpunch article
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Niederer"

[paineinthearse]

4. Photo

Mom Turned Protester
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sue Niederer of Hopewell, N.J., whose son, Seth Dvorin, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, died in Iraq in February 2004, marches in an anti-war protest in New York, March 20, 2004. The rally marked the first anniversary of the U.S.-led war in Iraq and called for the removal of American troops from the region. (Photo: AP)

[Mr Rabble]

5. Good for her.

This is just tragic. Real people are dying in the oil wars. Not robots or faceless, nameless "soldiers" but real people.

This war just makes me sick.

[shanti]

6. i missed that one

what did laura do or say?