WACO, Texas, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A dozen anti-war protesters camped near President Bush's ranch were arrested Wednesday and a Waco, Texas, judge rejected their challenge of new rules.
McLennan County, Texas, ordinances passed in September ban parking and residing along 23 miles of roads around the president's ranch near Crawford, Texas. They also ban camping and sewage receptacles along all county roads.
In a 45-minute hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Walter Smith rejected a request from the Texas Civil Rights Project to issue a temporary restraining order barring enforcement of the rules on constitutional grounds, the Waco (Texas) Tribune-Herald reported.
County officials said the ordinances are to prevent traffic and safety problems, not to prevent anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan from delivering her message that U.S. troops should return from Iraq immediately.
Sheehan, delayed by a reported family illness, was not part of Wednesday's protest.
The so-called "peace mom" was due in Texas late Thursday, the newspaper reported.
