Posted on 09/21/2007 3:44:42 PM PDT by SLB
RADCLIFF Members of gay-bashing Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., plan to picket the funeral Saturday of Pfc. Sammie Phillips.
The group will protest before services begin at 2 p.m. at Stithton Baptist Church in Radcliff, according to a news release that also features biblical quotations and interpretations.
The church advised Radcliff police of its plans. Organizers asked the department to designate an area for 10 church members to picket, police spokesman Bryce Shumate said.
They will be restricted to an area across Dixie Boulevard and about 300 feet away from the church.
The Patriot Guard Riders also will attend the funeral and visitation today at Coffey and Chism Funeral Home in Vine Grove, said Melinda Willcut, an administrative assistant at the church. ADVERTISEMENT *
The riders attend services for military members as invited guests. Their objectives are to show respect for the deceased and shield family and friends from interruptions caused by protesters, according to the groups Web site.
Were really happy for those attitudes, Willcut said, referring to the guard.
Shumate said police will be patrolling the area Saturday to ensure order.
Our main concern is its our job to ensure the safety of the folks and citizens in Radcliff, he said, adding that included visitors.
Westboro Baptist Church and its controversial leader, the Rev. Fred Phelps, claim homosexuals run the country and military and call the deaths of those serving the military punishments from God. Similar protests in Kentucky led legislators to enact laws regulating protests at funerals.
Phillips, 19, of Vine Grove, served in the Kentucky National Army Guard and was killed Sept. 10 when his vehicle overturned while on a traffic control mission near Rustamiyah, Iraq. He was a 2006 North Hardin High School graduate.
“Some America-hater with deep pockets is funding them.”
Absolutely.
Ahhhhhh yes I know ;) and lovley small towns they are too. That area is my second home. Hopefully one of these days I will be blessed to make it my permanant home. E-town is the closest for shopping etc, and has GREAT flea markets. I like Leithfild also.
Mom says a lot of folks move down there to get away from the blue states, but then a lot of them try to change it into what they were escaping. Don’t let that happen!! One by one, my family will be/has been relocating there, and NOT to change it!
They also enjoy being closer to their families in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, New York, New England, etc... A lot of these families couldn't necessarily afford to travel all the way to Florida and stay a week in one of the tourist-trap hotels down there, but they can usually handle the prices here in Kentucky.
Louisville is home to a large number of excellent hospitals, including one of the finest heart hospitals in the country, so they don't have to worry about health care.
Additionally, there are all sorts of activities to keep them entertained. There are a number of wonderful golf courses in Louisville and Lexington, the tracks at Churchill Downs and Keenland are always packed, and there are a number of fine casino boats lining the Ohio River (I don't gamble, but they do have some of the best restaurants in the area for pretty reasonable prices).
If their interests are more in the line of shopping, Louisville, Lexington, Cincinnati, and Nashville are excellent choices (my mom and sisters are shopping connoisseurs) and there are also one or two antique stores in almost every little town in the state.
A surprising number of these folks are more red than blue.
By the way, if you like flea markets, Louisville has a huge one the last weekend of the month at the Fair and Expo Center. The room is somewhere around 100,000-120,000 square feet and is stuffed with just about everything you can imagine, and then some.
At some point...these idiots will encounter a funeral where a couple of hundred Army personnel are attending...and they will likely be laid to the concrete of the road and left as mangled as possible but breathing. At that point....the members will reevaluate their mission in life and find some other religion. I’m surprised this hasn’t happened yet...but then they are very picky about where they go and who they might encounter. The cops are stuck...they have to allow them some room. But locals...are likely to be given alot of openings to go after these guys.
I laugh every time I see that picture!
My condolences to the family. Many thanks to PFC Phillips for his absolute devotion to duty. That the slobs of WBC could not be utilized as a shield for our troops’ safety is - well, it’s a cryin shame.
I believe these people are living on borrowed time. They are going to go to far just once and the legal prohabitions that have protected them to date are going to I fear, be set aside.
There is no way they could ever be a church. Their church is hateful and evil to others. That was NOT God’s plan. They are a bunch of evil people. Hateful to the core.
We went to the cemetery along with somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 to 750 other patriots. There were over 200 Patriot Guard members there. I did talk to several folks who had been at the church where four members of the westboro cult showed up. They were advised by the police to leave as the crowd was probably 99% military or ex-military and getting hostile. Some of the local folks found their cars (Kansas plates) in a nearby parking lot and the windows turned up blacked out. Wonder how that happened.
Stonewall Jackson had a camera and is uploading pics to a host site. As soon as he is finished he will get a half dozen or so up. The local media was there in force, so tomorrow morning’s paper will more than likely have an article. I will post it as a separate thread and place the link here and the link to here on that one.
Bump
Thanks for being there for us all SLB...........I am personally grateful.
Stay Safe ~
You are quite welcome. It was an honor to be there and be a small part of the huge crowd there showing respect for this young hero.
The Kentucky National Guard Honor Guard gets set up at the cemetery.
Freeper SLB.
Freeper Stonewall Jackson.
Freeper SLB and a Patriot Guard Rider from Lexington.
One of the many Patriot Guard bikes.
The Patriot Guard command truck. (note the NRA hat on the dash)
Patriot Guard Bernie is a disabled Gulf War vet, so he is a full-time volunteer with the Patriot Guard Riders.
Getting set up at the cemetery entrance.
Thank You SLB, and thank you also to the Americans heroes of the military and Patriot Guard who attended. You honored a fallen hero, and You all did America proud today! God Bless you all.
...........Stonewall, SLB ....Thanks for the pics and for being part of the force that ensured this soldier was laid to rest in peace. Peace he earned at a very high price.
Stay Safe Ya’ll ~
Bluegrass ping
Thanks. Glad you were there. Appreciate the pictures.
I’d like to hear the media refer to the Westboro bunch as a cult instead of a “church”. But that would not suit their agenda.
Most of their comments would probably get me banned from FR, but they did refer to them as a cult and said that two of Phelps' kids have left the cult and went as far as to change their names so they would no longer have any association with him and his psycho ideas.
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