So, where were you when it was us?
We’ve been haunted by these Westboro fags for nearly six years…us…veterans and the military and our families. Thankfully, our own (the Patriot Guard Rider and the American Legion Riders) have taken up the chore of shielding many families from the Westboro “Baptist” Church’s irrational and incoherent vitriol. But now, suddenly, government has discovered a way to stop them at the funeral of a nine-year-old girl;
Unanimous votes by the House and Senate on Tuesday sent the bill to Brewer. It took effect immediately with her signature Tuesday night. The new law prohibits protests within 300 feet of a funeral or burial service.
Now, suddenly, people with no connection to the wars and the military are upset;
“How dare you come with your hateful message when we’re in mourning,” Gilmer said. “Nobody comes into our beautiful town and tries to spew hate at the celebration and memorial of someone’s life.”
From the NY Post;
“It makes me sick to my stomach,” said Glen Littell, who is bringing a pack of bikers from the Phoenix Motorcycle Rider Group to Tucson on Thursday. “They’re a stench from a slaughterhouse. We’re just going to block the stench so the family can catch their breath.”
Where was all of this concern and this emergency legislation when the Westboro fags were spending $200,000 a year to send their minions to military funerals?
Indiana, Michigan, Illinios and South Dakota have passed similar legislation. George W. Bush signed and Congress overwhelmingly supported the Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act which has the same effect at cemeteries administered by the National Cemetery Administration.
So does a nine-year-old girl have to be murdered in every State so veterans and their families can get the same protection?
Category: Veterans Issues
C’mon, Jonn, you know that we are always at the bottom of the priority list. Luckily, we take care of our own and the Patriot Guard was formed out of concerned and pissed off American Legion Riders and other Vets taking care of business in Kansas and it just grew from there.
Hammer, meet nail…..
Same place they were when Westboro protested the funeral of Matthew Shepard or the funerals of other gay people. People ignore WBC until WBC comes for them.
>Where was all of this concern and this emergency legislation when the Westboro fags were spending $200,000 a year to send their minions to military funerals?
It is “freedom of speech” when they are protesting military funerals../s
>Matthew Shepard or the funerals of other gay people
And yet gay people were made part of the expanded federal hate crimes bill while military servicemembers were specifically excluded.
While I can understand the sentiment, let’s take a step back for a minute.
First off, I applaud those that are willing to step up to protect the family from the Westboro Lawyer Gang. It’s not specifically a PGR mission, but it would be praiseworthy for them to join in (if they haven’t already declared they would) this effort.
Generally speaking, Arizona has been very supportive of Our Troops. I’m surprised they don’t already have a law on the books and 300 ft isn’t enough. It’s a football field length, closer than many fans view the game.
Many states have similiar laws already on the books, some even more restrictive, due specifically to the WBC idiocy at Military Funerals. Have those lunatics been active in AZ? If they’ve not previously been able to prove their idiocy, even if they’ve threatened to (thanks to actions by PGR and others), then it would be understandable that AZ politicians weren’t inspired to make the law.
IF, on the other hand, the legislation was previously initiated and voted/vetoed down, then every politician that votes differently on this piece is a hypocrite.
Every family deserves peace during their memorial of mourning. Justification for outbursts is difficult to make. I could see how a victims family might be tempted if a Rapist, Terrorist, Mass Murderer was being unduly praised in death, but the family of a 9 year old girl shot down by a crazed communist praising lunatic, certainly should be allowed to mourn in peace.
I have posted and sent this letter many times about WBC. I hope that everyone will see that it applies to not only the Snyder family but to all victims of WBC. I am writing to you about Snyder v Phelps. I feel that the facts in the case, surrounding the issue of free speech, do not apply. And I ask what of the Snyder’s family religious and private citizen rights? That the Phelps group violated. When has one of our most cherished and guarded freedoms gone too far? Common sense in this case, and in my humble opinion, this is an issue that does not concern constitutional law on whither or not Phelps and his group has the protection of freedom of speech; and never should have been taken as thus. It is an issue that has violated the privacy of a grieving family, one of premeditated slander and harassment, an act of malice. It is an issue that has violated a time ordered unwritten code of our society of a free people. The one unwritten code that allows our citizens to bury their dead and grieve in peace. A code that respects the privacy of a family; and one of which does not allow biased hatred and unfounded lies to be posted in the media of not only a fallen solider, son, but of a person that the Phelps and Westboro Church group did not even know. I believe the Westboro church led by Fred Phelps did cross the line of moral and human decency; by violating this unwritten time honored code in our society. It is my opinion this group not only targeted this grieving family, they slandered the name of the dead son with their unfounded sign about his sexual preference and internet web posts. A generalization they claim in the name of God. Yet, a premeditated one they chose to evoke causing undue stress and harm upon not only this family, but other families as well. It seems the act may border on a hate crime by desecration. In looking at this issue I have… Read more »
[…] Took So Long? Jonn Lilyea asks at This Ain’t Hell. Military families have been “haunted” by Westboro for […]