Politics

Andrew Breitbart dead at 43

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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(TheDC/AP) Conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart has died, according to his website Big Government. He was 43.

“With a terrible feeling of pain and loss we announce the passing of Andrew Breitbart,” the website reported Thursday morning.

The cause of death was not immediately revealed.

“Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles,” the Big Government post read. “We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.”

It continued: “Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love.”

Joel B. Pollak, the editor-in-chief and in-house counsel at Breitbart.com, confirmed the news in an email to The Daily Caller. Katie Bosland, an ABC producer, tweets, “LA Coroner’s office has confirmed to @ABC that Andrew Breitbart passed away last night at UCLA Medical Center.”

Pollak said he couldn’t immediately provide more details on Breitbart’s passing.

“None additional,” he said.

Breitbart was walking near his house in the Brentwood neighborhood shortly after midnight Thursday when he collapsed, his father-in-law Orson Bean said.

Someone saw him fall and called paramedics, who tried to revive him. They rushed him to the emergency room at UCLA Medical Center, Bean said.

Breitbart had suffered heart problems a year earlier, but Bean said he could not pinpoint what happened.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s devastating,” Bean told The Associated Press.

Before creating an empire of news websites — including Breitbart.com, Big Government, Big Hollywood, Big Journalism, Big Peace, Breitbart.tv — Breitbart worked with Matt Drudge at the Drudge Report and Arianna Huffington at the Huffington Post.

In recent years, Breitbart and his websites received attention for posting undercover videos exposing the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and for his role in the resignation of former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Just last month, Breitbart joined The Daily Caller in attending a well-publicized dinner with former Weather Underground leaders Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.

This is a developing story.

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