Anti-war activists are planning peace vigils tonight at more than 1,000 sites across America, including at least 20 in New York, in an effort spurred by the high-profile protest of a grief-stricken soldier’s mother near President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas.

The defiant mother, Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq last year, joined a conference call yesterday to promote the nationwide events, which are being organized by a liberal grassroots organization, MoveOn.org. She spoke as hostility flared toward the growing encampment several miles from the ranch where Mr. Bush is on vacation.

At least 60 local residents petitioned the McLennan County Commission to limit parking near the site of the protest vigil, which Ms. Sheehan began on August 6 in an effort to win an audience with Mr. Bush.

According to the Associated Press, one of Mr. Bush’s neighbors, Fred Mattlage, yesterday granted the war protesters the use of his land, thus moving them off the roadside and cutting in half their distance from Mr. Bush’s ranch.

Also yesterday, a Waco, Texas, man, Larry Northern, 59, was charged with criminal mischief in connection with an incident Monday night in which a pickup truck ran down a row of crosses that protesters had erected as a memorial to soldiers killed in Iraq. On Sunday, an owner of a nearby ranch fired a shotgun into the air out of apparent frustration with the demonstration.

“All the violence has come from people who oppose us,” Ms. Sheehan told journalists. The destruction of the crosses “desecrated the memories of those who have fallen,” she said. “I find it so ironic that I’m accused of dishonoring my son’s memory and somebody came through here and dishonored all of their memories.”

Critics of Ms. Sheehan have accused her of changing her views about the war and about what happened when she met Mr. Bush at Fort Lewis near Seattle in June 2004, two months after her son, an Army specialist, was killed in fighting in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood. Some have also pointed to statements in which Ms. Sheehan suggested the war in Iraq was caused by or being fought on behalf of Israel.

“I really think it’s despicable, the right-wing attacks against me,” Ms. Sheehan said. “They scrutinized everything I’ve ever said or ever done, but they won’t scrutinize George Bush.”

Ms. Sheehan’s family also received press attention after some members called on her to end her protest. The Associated Press reported yesterday that her husband, Patrick, filed for divorce on Friday. Ms. Sheehan said the paperwork was prepared before she began the vigil. She accused her opponents of bringing the divorce filing to light.

“Why are you sliming me and smearing me?” she asked.

During the hour-long conference call, Ms. Sheehan referred to America as “a country that always supports war and killing.” She also suggested that the war in Iraq is part of an American effort to achieve dominance in the region. “This is going to be an eternal war of imperialism fought in the Middle East,” she said.

Personnel from MoveOn.org managed the questioning on the conference call. Some news outlets, such as the liberal Salon.com, were allowed to put two or more questions to Ms. Sheehan, while other organizations were not permitted to ask questions at all.

Ms. Sheehan described herself as a Democrat and a liberal but said she does not view her protest as political. The political action branch of MoveOn.org that is coordinating the vigils said on its Web site that all of its activities “are considered partisan under the law.” The group counseled those holding vigils not to use the resources or facilities of nonprofit organizations, whose tax status could be jeopardized by political activity. The advice is confusing because one of the groups identified as a backer of tonight’s vigils, TrueMajority, is part of an organization called Priorities Incorporated, which describes itself as “non-profit” and “non-partisan.”

Priorities was created by the founders of the Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream brand, Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. Democracy for America, a political action committee founded by the chairman of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean, is also promoting the vigils.

Candlelight gatherings in support of Ms. Sheehan are planned tonight at various locations in the city, including Union Square Park, the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and at the Eleanor Roosevelt statue on Riverside Drive at 72nd Street.