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Phelps…who wants to go postal on him?

July 15th, 2010 Posted in The SandGram v1.0
This really has me upset and it amazes me that a person can lead a band of crazies and get away with it!! I am truly surprised that someone hasn’t gone postal (expression of losing control when you are normally a rational person) on his group because if it was my son’s funeral he was attending, it would take every ounce of my well being not to put him in the ground next to my slain son.  Having lost my sister 22 years ago, I’ve seen the grief that racks a parent during that stressful time.  They are not thinking clearly and this should be warning to Phelps and his group that while the law might be on his side, expect a father or brother may take the law into their own hands…
 
Westboro members allowed to protest GI funeral
 
By Timberly Ross – The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jul 15, 2010 16:58:41 EDT
  
OMAHA, Neb. — A federal judge Thursday expanded a temporary block on enforcing Nebraska’s ban on flag mutilation, clearing the way for a weekend protest outside an Omaha soldier’s funeral.
 
U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf in Lincoln extended an injunction issued last week at the behest of Megan Phelps-Roper, who wanted permission to picket near Omaha’s Temple Israel synagogue Thursday morning and near an Omaha soldier’s funeral Saturday morning. The order makes only Phelps-Roper exempt from the law during those protests.
 
The ruling came as Kopf canceled a scheduled hearing on the request, citing consent from state and local authorities involved in the case.
 
Phelps-Roper is a member of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., which is known for staging protests outside funerals of service members. She has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Nebraska’s flag law, which bars intentionally “casting contempt or ridicule” upon an American or Nebraska flag by mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning or trampling on it.
 
Last week, Kopf issued a temporary block against the law to allow Phelps-Roper to hold two protests in Lincoln. The judge plans to meet Monday with attorneys in the case to determine whether to expand the order beyond Phelps-Roper alone to the entire state.
 
Westboro members travel around the country protesting at service members’ funerals because they believe U.S. troop deaths are punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality. Members often trample on, wear and display the American flag upside-down as part of their protests.
 
Kopf said last week that while people may not like the fact that Phelps-Roper has a constitutional right to dishonor the American flag, “the First Amendment trumps the citizenry’s preference for patriotism.”
 
His order Thursday allows Phelps-Roper to join a protest Saturday morning near Dundee Presbyterian Church, where a funeral has been scheduled for Pfc. Edwin “Eddie” Wood. The 18-year-old died of injuries suffered July 5 when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device near Kandahar, Afghanistan, according to military officials.
 
Phelps-Roper did not protest outside the synagogue as planned Thursday morning, according to her attorney, Margie Phelps. The judge’s order was issued after the time scheduled for the demonstration, so Phelps-Roper attended a protest in Leavenworth, Kan.
 
Phelps said a motion will be filed soon to have the injunction made permanent.
 
Last month, a federal judge in Omaha rejected a lawsuit by another Westboro church member who sought to declare both the state’s flag-mutilation law and its funeral protest law unconstitutional.
 
Nebraska’s funeral protest law prohibits picketing within 300 feet of a funeral or memorial service.

  1. 6 Responses to “Phelps…who wants to go postal on him?”

  2. By Christina on Jul 15, 2010

    The whole Phelps family is a cluster fluck of inbred wack jobs. I’m afraid of what I’d do if I ever came face to face with one of them. I don’t get it either, how they’re able to do what they do, but one of these days someones going to click off safe. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already.

  3. By Starbuck on Jul 15, 2010

    Sir:

    I find Phelps and the Westboro Baptist “Church” as revolting as anyone. However, I’d caution against using the term “going postal”, as that might be considered a threat.

  4. By Starbuck on Jul 15, 2010

    With that said, I believe in free speech; however, there has got to be a limit on the WBC’s behavior. Grieving families should have the right to privacy.

  5. By Mary McCampbell Bell on Jul 16, 2010

    I find those people to be absolute scum of the earth.

  6. By Bridget on Jul 17, 2010

    Just shows how much restraint and compassion the Patriot Guard Riders have had to show over the past several years. They came into existance initially because of these wackos. Keep it up guys!

    (SOME folks we DO NOT Claim as Kansans!)

  7. By Andy Kravetz on Jul 20, 2010

    I have written about this over at the blog, inFormation but Starbuck is right on some sense. The first Amendment does have limits. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater. The question is how much pain is inflicted and does that trump a person’s right to speak.

    And the protests are 1,000 feet away, I think the article said. At what point are they considered far enough away. And lastly, there is one good thing that came out of this, the Patriot Guard Riders. the PGR was formed in response to Westboro so at least now we have people who are more committed to patriotism.

    Remember, and I wrote to you about this, a judge threw out the Stolen Valor Act in Colorado, saying a person had a right to free speech. Again, I have more on that over at inFormation. But thanks for posting and thanks for keeping me up to speed on this stuff. I love getting thoughts from these blogs. Take care.

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