Rev. Maurice McCrackin; Peace Activist

The Rev. Maurice McCrackin, 92, arrested and jailed dozens of times during more than 40 years of civil rights and peace activism. McCrackin was arrested at the U.S. Department of Energy’s former Fernald uranium processing plant near Cincinnati when he was 83 and at the White House when he was 85. During the Persian Gulf War, McCrackin and a friend scaled the White House fence and dumped red dye into a fountain to symbolize spilled blood. In March 1949, McCrackin announced that he was withholding 80% of his income tax to protest the use of tax money to support military activities. He was sentenced to prison in 1959 for refusing to pay taxes and served six months. On Dec. 26 in Cincinnati.