Andrew Breitbart speaking at CPAC in 2011. (Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons)

"We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior," a statement from Breitbart’s family said.

According to his family, Breitbart died from natural causes.

Fox News has more:

"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."

Breitbart created a network of websites where he considered it his goal to unmask political corruption, hypocrisy and media bias.

He led to the downfall of U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner by posting the politician’s sexually explicit Twitter photos last year. Breitbart also posted video created by two young conservative activists who posed as a pimp and prostitute seeking advice from Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, about how to create a brothel that would appear to be a legitimate business. That video prompted massive outcry against ACORN and eventually led to the U.S. Department of Justice cutting the group’s funds. ACORN ultimately went bankrupt.

A statement released Thursday on Breitbart's website Big Hollywood included an excerpt from his upcoming book, "Righteous Indignation." The excerpt is part of the conclusion in Breitbart's book:

"I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and -- famously -- I enjoy making enemies.

"Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I've lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I've gained hundreds, thousands -- who knows? -- of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night."