Longtime White House Protester Dies, After Vigil That Started In 1981

A woman behind a decades-long peaceful protest in front of the White House has passed away, according to The Washington Post.

She also pointed out that the Iran nuclear deal, and the reduction in nuclear weapons worldwide in the past 30 years, represented a partial fulfillment of Picciotto’s goals, and “shows why such activism is most worthy”.

She suffered a fall recently, the Post reports, but her immediate cause of death isn’t known.

When Thomas died in 2009, Benjamin was noticeably less active in protests but Picciotto continued her vigil in front of the White House in his honor.

Concepcion Picciotto was a well-known figure in the Washington, D.C., area who devoted her life to advocating for peace and against nuclear proliferation.

Her protest vigil is considered the longest in US history. She lived in a rudimentary encampment on the red-brick walkway in Lafayette Square and survived historic blizzards, scorching heat waves and tense confrontations with passersby and police.

The protest and members have been the subject of high-profile documentaries, including Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11.

After Picciotto was hit by a cab in 2012 while riding her bicycle, she came to rely heavily on the help of younger activists to maintain the vigil, which could not be left unattended according to National Park Service rules.

Her death was announced on Tuesday in a statement by the Peace House, the group that organizes the protest installation at the White House.

Picciotto told The Post in 2013, “People always tell me, ‘We need more people like you.’ I tell them: ‘But it starts with you”. “I have to be here”, she said of her work.

Charles Dharapak/ASSOCIATED PRESS Picciotto and her fellow activists manned a tent in Washington D.C. and protested nuclear weapons since 1981 – seeing five presidents in the Oval Office.

Peace House was sold past year, and Picciotto eventually found shelter at N Street Village, within walking distance of her vigil.