|
Hells Angels May Cordon Off Westboro Church Funeral Protesters
It's not clear whether the Westboro church intends to picket the funerals of all the victims of Saturday's attack. One press release from the group declared, "Thank God for the shooter," and said the group would picket the "funerals." Another release announced plans only for the protest on Thursday."God sent the shooter to deal with idolatrous America," the group said in a statement. The Westboro church, led by Fred Phelps, believes that tragic events like the deaths of soldiers are punishment for tolerance of homosexuality. The Supreme Court last fall heard arguments in a case brought against Phelps by the father of a soldier killed in Iraq whose funeral was protested by the group in 2006. The father, Albert Snyder, had won a multimillion-dollar verdict against the church, claiming invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The court is expected to issue a ruling soon on whether free speech can be curbed at specific locations and events. Sinema said the bill she was introducing is modeled on an Ohio law that has withstood court challenge. It would technically apply to protesters at any Arizona funeral, though Sinema was clear that it's directed at Westboro. She said she hopes the protesters and counter-protesters avoid any violence at the service. Meanwhile, several grassroots groups have popped up on Facebook calling on Tucson residents to intervene. "We will create a wall of humanity to allow the families who've lost their love ones to hold their funerals in peace, held with dignity, and surrounded in love," one of the Facebook groups says in a statement. Another calls for a "peaceful protest" of the church at the funeral Thursday for 9-year-old Christina Green. Littell has notified the Pima County Sheriff's Department and has reached out to several other biker groups notifying them of their planned presence at Green's funeral. He crossed his fingers that the Hells Angels would join them. "Nothing says stand back and be silent like a Hells Angels presence," he said. Littell added that if the church moves on to picket other funerals, his riders will follow. "We're getting word there's gonna be a pretty large presence of bikers," he said. "Word's spreading. And spreading quickly." Posted by: Shitch Phunter7001 2011-01-12 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=313722 |