Hardrock69
07-25-2005, 09:23 AM
Funeral marred by protesters
A Topeka church known for picketing the funerals of people who died of AIDS has started picketing soldiers' funerals.
BY BRENT D. WISTROM
The Wichita Eagle
NEWKIRK, Okla. - Flags flew at half-staff Saturday for miles around this small community, honoring a small guy with a big heart who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
But at the corner of the church where nearly half the town gathered to say goodbye to Army Spc. Jared "Jed" D. Hartley, an American flag was hanging upside-down from neon cardboard signs.
The signs said things like "America is Doomed," "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for IEDs."
Ten people from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, which is protesting at several American soldiers' funerals, held the messages above their heads as mourning friends and family filed into the stone church at Seventh and Walnut.
Tension hung in the air as Kevin Roe, a tall firefighter and teacher with a strong build, confronted the group.
How can you do this, he asked.
They gave no response.
Newkirk Police Chief John Hobbs put his arm across Roe's big chest, holding him back.
"You're not right," Roe said.
Hobbs stood between the picketers and Roe. One of the protesters had an American flag hanging out of her pants and onto the sidewalk.
"She's stepping on my flag though, John," Roe said.
The chief restrained him.
"Let's not do this," Hobbs said. "Do it for the family."
"It was insulting," Roe said later. "I have three children in the military, and it was insulting.
"They were hoping to get beat up, which is a pretty sad way to live their lives," he said.
Some military officials believe Roe may be right.
After Westboro Baptist announced it would protest at funerals of American soldiers killed overseas, officials issued an internal advisory to members of the military urging them to ignore the protesters.
"They will employ written and verbal inflammatory language against the deceased person, their family and military personnel to elicit desired responses," the message reads. "This group will then file a civil action in an effort to reach a settlement in order to fund future activities."
Capt. Brus Vidal of McConnell Air Force Base said he had never seen a warning like it.
"The bottom line is let the civilian authorities do their job," Vidal said. "We obviously don't have any ownership where these funerals are at."
Military color guard members, volunteer Kay County sheriff's officers and Newkirk police officers made sure the Hartley family didn't see the protesters.
They allowed the protest an hour before the funeral. Then, after an officer radioed that the protesters were out of the county, the family came to the church.
One Westboro Baptist member who wasn't present at the protest was Margie Phelps.
The high-ranking Kansas Department of Corrections official has drawn attention recently for her involvement with the church's protests.
But her religious life isn't impacting her professionalism, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' office said in a statement Friday.
"Whether or not we agree with an employee's personal choices, we cannot punish them for their personal behavior or political beliefs exercised outside the workplace if those actions do not impact workplace activity," the statement said. "Our understanding in this particular situation is that there have been no workplace interruptions or incidents, therefore there is no action to be taken."
Westboro Baptist Church members began protesting at soldiers' funerals in June, claiming that God is killing the soldiers with improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in retaliation for a plastic bomb set off in front of Shirley Phelps-Roper in 1995, Phelps-Roper said.
"This country bombed Westboro Church with an IED," she said in a telephone interview. "There's no coincidence that these people are dying in massive numbers with those IEDs."
A flier announcing various funeral protests says:
"They turned America
Over to fags;
They're coming home
In body bags."
"What this nation needs to understand is that the lord their God will not put up with all this... fornication, adultery and homosexuality," Phelps-Roper said.
"We're helping you connect the dots when we go to these funerals," she said.
Why Hartley's?
"He's a microcosm," she said. "He's the next guy that came up. We're not going to miss any of them unless we just can't get there."
At Hartley's burial, the 22-year-old who earned the nickname the "Mighty Mosquito" on the basketball court was more than a microcosm.
Hundreds lined up to comfort Hartley's parents, fiancee and brother.
Six uniformed men carefully folded an American flag.
Twenty-one gun shots rang across the Oklahoma fields.
A Topeka church known for picketing the funerals of people who died of AIDS has started picketing soldiers' funerals.
BY BRENT D. WISTROM
The Wichita Eagle
NEWKIRK, Okla. - Flags flew at half-staff Saturday for miles around this small community, honoring a small guy with a big heart who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
But at the corner of the church where nearly half the town gathered to say goodbye to Army Spc. Jared "Jed" D. Hartley, an American flag was hanging upside-down from neon cardboard signs.
The signs said things like "America is Doomed," "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for IEDs."
Ten people from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, which is protesting at several American soldiers' funerals, held the messages above their heads as mourning friends and family filed into the stone church at Seventh and Walnut.
Tension hung in the air as Kevin Roe, a tall firefighter and teacher with a strong build, confronted the group.
How can you do this, he asked.
They gave no response.
Newkirk Police Chief John Hobbs put his arm across Roe's big chest, holding him back.
"You're not right," Roe said.
Hobbs stood between the picketers and Roe. One of the protesters had an American flag hanging out of her pants and onto the sidewalk.
"She's stepping on my flag though, John," Roe said.
The chief restrained him.
"Let's not do this," Hobbs said. "Do it for the family."
"It was insulting," Roe said later. "I have three children in the military, and it was insulting.
"They were hoping to get beat up, which is a pretty sad way to live their lives," he said.
Some military officials believe Roe may be right.
After Westboro Baptist announced it would protest at funerals of American soldiers killed overseas, officials issued an internal advisory to members of the military urging them to ignore the protesters.
"They will employ written and verbal inflammatory language against the deceased person, their family and military personnel to elicit desired responses," the message reads. "This group will then file a civil action in an effort to reach a settlement in order to fund future activities."
Capt. Brus Vidal of McConnell Air Force Base said he had never seen a warning like it.
"The bottom line is let the civilian authorities do their job," Vidal said. "We obviously don't have any ownership where these funerals are at."
Military color guard members, volunteer Kay County sheriff's officers and Newkirk police officers made sure the Hartley family didn't see the protesters.
They allowed the protest an hour before the funeral. Then, after an officer radioed that the protesters were out of the county, the family came to the church.
One Westboro Baptist member who wasn't present at the protest was Margie Phelps.
The high-ranking Kansas Department of Corrections official has drawn attention recently for her involvement with the church's protests.
But her religious life isn't impacting her professionalism, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' office said in a statement Friday.
"Whether or not we agree with an employee's personal choices, we cannot punish them for their personal behavior or political beliefs exercised outside the workplace if those actions do not impact workplace activity," the statement said. "Our understanding in this particular situation is that there have been no workplace interruptions or incidents, therefore there is no action to be taken."
Westboro Baptist Church members began protesting at soldiers' funerals in June, claiming that God is killing the soldiers with improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in retaliation for a plastic bomb set off in front of Shirley Phelps-Roper in 1995, Phelps-Roper said.
"This country bombed Westboro Church with an IED," she said in a telephone interview. "There's no coincidence that these people are dying in massive numbers with those IEDs."
A flier announcing various funeral protests says:
"They turned America
Over to fags;
They're coming home
In body bags."
"What this nation needs to understand is that the lord their God will not put up with all this... fornication, adultery and homosexuality," Phelps-Roper said.
"We're helping you connect the dots when we go to these funerals," she said.
Why Hartley's?
"He's a microcosm," she said. "He's the next guy that came up. We're not going to miss any of them unless we just can't get there."
At Hartley's burial, the 22-year-old who earned the nickname the "Mighty Mosquito" on the basketball court was more than a microcosm.
Hundreds lined up to comfort Hartley's parents, fiancee and brother.
Six uniformed men carefully folded an American flag.
Twenty-one gun shots rang across the Oklahoma fields.