Westboro Baptist slime in Salem NH for soldier funeral...go get'em

[Manedwolf]

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Extremist+church+members+to+picket+NH+soldier%27s+funeral&articleId=08061426-47c6-45d0-940e-a55826878d10

Anyone able to attend, please help shield Cpl. Nicholas Arvanitis's family from these pieces of human trash...Just stand and block their view, best way. The Patriot Guard Riders will be there, thankfully, to drown out their noise.

Extremist church members to picket NH soldier's funeral

By CAROL ROBIDOUX
Union Leader Staff
11 hours, 45 minutes ago

A faction from a Kansas-based extremist group say they plan to picket the funeral of a Salem soldier killed last week in Iraq.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, Topeka, Kan., announced yesterday they will picket the funeral of Army Cpl. Nicholas Arvanitis, scheduled for tomorrow at St. Joseph Church in Salem.

Arvanitis, 22, a member of the Army's Army's 82nd Airborne Division, was killed Oct. 6 while on patrol with special forces.

Westboro Baptist Church has gained notoriety for its extremist public statements in which they criticize those who are fighting in the war and making claims that God is avenging them by killing Americans with Muslim-made weapons.

In response, a local chapter of a national motorcycle honor guard, the Patriot Guard Riders, also plan to attend the funeral, and do what they can to shield Arvanitis' family from the protesters, said group spokesman Quinn Golden.

"I had not heard they were going to be there, but I've been monitoring their Web site," Golden said. "We have been invited by the family to attend the funeral, and we'll be there to show our support for them, and for the town of Salem."

He said to his knowledge it would be the first time members of the Kansas church have attended a New Hampshire soldier's funeral.

"There's no way to explain why they do what they do. They're just a hate group."

 

[mike101]

I'm thoroughly convinced that these Westboro creeps are in this for the money. They are all lawyers. What does that tell you? They get funding from somewhere. They can afford to jump on planes and get themselves anywhere in the country on very short notice. Very suspicious for a religious group.

When these cockroaches threatened to picket the funerals of the Amish girls who were murdered, the PA State Police (God bless 'em) blocked every road into town on the day of the funeral. Maybe someone
should call the NH Staties, and see if they can't do the same thing.

Now, I don't want to hear a bunch of crap about their constitutional right to spew their vile garbage. People have at least an equal right to conduct a funeral in peace.

 

[Dravur]

I was...

wonderring the same thing.... where do these whack-a-moles get their cash? I am pretty sure that I cannot afford to jump on a plane to every funeral. I would be very interested in knowing who is the cash backer of these do-doo heads.

My guess is George Soros. Just because....

 

[Axman]

I have little respect for those types of human beings. It's bad enough the family has to go through a funeral, but to have to put up with this kind of disrespect...

 

[mike101]

Hi, Dravur

I suspect they get contributions from every nutjob in the country who can afford to send them a buck.

As most people know by now, they are all lawyers. That's really unusual for a so-called "Religious" group. They get some of their funding from lawsuits against anyone who tries to get in their way. However, I'd bet the ranch that they get most of their funding by exploiting the real loonies out there.

When you think about it, that's pretty slick. All you need is a little legal education, some nerve, and a total lack of conscience or morals.

There was a report about them on The O'Reilly Factor, when thay were going to picket the funerals of the little Amish girls. They were planning on carrying signs that read "Your Daughters Are Whores", and "Your Daughters Are Burning In Hell". Can you even imagine such a thing, especially when it's directed at Amish children?

I don't have sufficient words to describe the utter hatred I feel for these people. I can only hope they come to my neck of the woods, someday.

 

[Ezekiel]

Merely as a point of interest, I find it inherently hypocritical that many folks here get all riled up about some Constitutional rights and not others.

2nd Amendment? We hear all that "cold, dead hands" propoganda. 1st Amendment? "Go, get'em."

Can't have it both ways, fellas. :banghead:

I say, let them picket whatever they want, ignore them, and live your life as you please. That's Democracy, baby!

 

[NineseveN]

When these cockroaches threatened to picket the funerals of the Amish girls who were murdered, the PA State Police (God bless 'em) blocked every road into town on the day of the funeral.

I'd heard a little about this and though I was not surprised at all by it, I was certainly impressed.

 

[Aggie's Revenge]

Ezekiel I understand what you are saying, but those asshats crossed a line a long time ago with me. Back in the mid 90's before most people had even heard about Westboro, they happened to send my sister a death threat letter because she was doing work for GBLT groups at a univserity. I was in the Marines then and she didn't tell me this till much later. Probably a good thing as it kept me from going to prison for sure.

That line has still been crossed and I hope everyday for the hammer of justice to squash those loonies like dropping an anvil on a spider,

 

[NineseveN]

Well yes, they can say whatever they like, and we're free to criticize them as well and generally get in their way. We're not aksing for it to be made illegal to do what they do, only that if they're going to do it, we're going to get in their way. There is no competition with freedom there.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

If the Westboro crazies have a funeral, I will
stay away, and pray that God has mercy on
their benighted soul.

 

[Alex45ACP]

+1 Ezekiel.

 

[real_name]

As to where the money comes from.

Lawsuits:

One of Westboro's followers estimated that the church spends $250,000 a year travelling around the world to picket. In the 1990s the church won a series of lawsuits against the City of Topeka and Shawnee County for efforts taken to prevent or hinder WBC picketing. As a result, the church was awarded approximately $200,000 in attorney's fees and costs associated with the litigation. Otherwise, all of the church's money comes from the combined income of its congregants and money won in lawsuits against their opponents.

Tax Avoidance:

The homes share a communal backyard, in the center of which once sat an Olympic size swimming pool; Phelps Sr. previously obtained tax exemption on the cost of maintenance and water by performing baptisms there and writing it off as a baptismal font. Sometime after 2000, the pool was filled in. No official reason has been given, but two theories have developed. One theory states that, according to Topeka residents, sometime around 2000 one of Phelps Sr.'s grandchildren nearly drowned in the pool and thus it was removed for safety reasons. The other theory holds that the pool was filled in because Westboro lost, or was about to lose, its tax exemption status on it.

The compound also includes a garage separate from the houses, which is used to store an extended cab/extended bed Ford F-150 pickup truck [citation needed] used to transport Westboro's picketers around Topeka and elsewhere. It can seat between seven and ten people and carries dozens of picket signs in the back; until recently, the truck was painted neon colors to resemble one of Westboro's picket signs and was emblazoned with Westboro's well-known phrase "God Hates Fags" (in recent years it was either repainted to resemble a standard factory paint job, or a new Ford was obtained). Until 2000, Phelps Sr. had written off the cost of maintaining the garage and the vehicle's fuel costs as church expenses; that year the IRS ruled that Phelps Sr. was using the truck for political and personal purposes, not religious, and revoked the tax exemption on the truck and garage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church

 

[Axman]

They can have all the first amendment rights they want. It's this line that they need to follow, "the right of the people peaceably to assemble" that they need to follow. They are not following this when they are screaming and ranting in the background, and carrying signs that contain malicious words.

 

[CornCod]

(1) Making a mockery of someone's funeral is very rude. I would never do such a thing, even to the ceremony of my worst enemy. It is morally wrong. Even a soldier that engages in imperialism by invading Iraq deserves not to be mocked at his funeral.

(2) Americans have a right to protest and picket anything they like, even with unpleasant words and noisy yelling. Most of the people that run the US think 2nd Admendment advocates are mentally ill and would be more than happy to get rid of our free speech rights and the right to assemble.

(3) Threats of harm are another thing entirely.

 

[mike101]

Medula Oblongata, You're Wrong

Yes, Mike Gallagher did give them air time. And yes, the PA State Police did block every road into town that day. It was on the local news in the Philadelphia area. I saw it, because that is where I live. The place was lousy with State Police. Know of whence you speak.

These people have the right to do whatever they want, but they do not have the right to do it right on top of the funeral. They could be charged with inciting a riot, or disturbing the peace, for example. It's not a violation of their rights for the police to keep them a decent distance from the funeral.

I'm so sick of hearing people mouth off about Westboro's rights, without any regard for the rights of the mourners to conduct a funeral in peace. Get real.

 

[carnaby]

Who will protest at their funeral when a distraught father can't take it and goes rambo on the idiots? There's irony in there somewhere.

 

[gunsmith]

"free speech"

A San Francisco crackhead was bothering tourist for money near my security guard post when I was working in SF.
I ran him off and he got the cops on me , they informed me "he has free speech"
and I "can't make him leave"...

I fumed for about an hour when it occured to me I have free speech too, I simply asked folks not to give him money (they were happy to oblige me)

He got the cop who came up kind of angrily and asked me what was my problem
apparently misinformed that I was making the crackhead leave (I was an Armed security guard) I told the cop that I wasn't saying anything to the crackhead just excercising my free speech by asking people not to give him money, no different really then him asking for money , is it?...the cop smiled and shrugged "free country,eh? have a good one"

I don't think a brawl with these goons is a violation of free speech, only if it is the state beating them up is it a free speech violation.
If I beat them up it's battery, the right jury might not even find you guilty.

 

[Oleg Volk]

Aren't funerals private events. If so, what keeps these folks from being asked to leave and arrested for trespassing if they do not?

 

[scurtis_34471]

And I resent the implication that any place was made lousy by the presence of Peace Officers.

Though I have to admit I've met a few lousy Peace Officers.

 

[3fgburner]

"I'd defend to the death, their right..."

... in this case, their right to be total @$$holes. HOWEVER -- I will also exercise MY right to park my fat, black-clad butt and a flag between them, and people they want to disturb.

The Aussie TV reporter trying to grab Phelps, Jr's, goolies is still, IMO, one of the funniest videos on YouTube.

 

[Aggie's Revenge]

3fgburner

Let me know when your flag wears out. We will take up a collection and buy you a bigger one.

Semper Fi.

 

[Dionysusigma]

Ezekiel: Merely as a point of interest, I find it inherently hypocritical that many folks here get all riled up about some Constitutional rights and not others.

2nd Amendment? We hear all that "cold, dead hands" propoganda. 1st Amendment? "Go, get'em."

Can't have it both ways, fellas. :banghead:

I say, let them picket whatever they want, ignore them, and live your life as you please. That's Democracy, baby!

A church of 26 members.

A country of 270 million.

True Democracy would've had them dead long ago... not the farcical excuse of "Democracy" we have where the minority rules.

 

[Eleven Mike]

Correct. A true democracy wouldn't have a bill of rights to protect the minority. However, no minority has a right to picket a funeral when there are plenty of other places they can demonstrate. Defending the alleged right to picket a funeral isn't broad-mindedness; it's just foolishness.

These people have the right to do whatever they want, but they do not have the right to do it right on top of the funeral. They could be charged with inciting a riot, or disturbing the peace, for example. It's not a violation of their rights for the police to keep them a decent distance from the funeral. I'm so sick of hearing people mouth off about Westboro's rights, without any regard for the rights of the mourners to conduct a funeral in peace.

 

[mike101]

Oleg, Good To Hear You Chime In On This One.

And, you are absolutely right. So is ElevenMike.

Medula Oblongata- The term "lousy", means that there were a lot of State Police there. Don't pretend to be an idiot.

Also, I don't see any mis-application of the law here. Their purpose IS to disturb the peace. Why else do you think they would do what they do? They are trying to get more publicity. If they do, they can attract contributions from more sickos.

You really have no clue.

 

[Eleven Mike]

mikeburk, I'm glad you agree. I don't think there's much "sicko-contribution" going on, though.

Previously posted; Wikipedia:

One of Westboro's followers estimated that the church spends $250,000 a year travelling around the world to picket. In the 1990s the church won a series of lawsuits against the City of Topeka and Shawnee County for efforts taken to prevent or hinder WBC picketing. As a result, the church was awarded approximately $200,000 in attorney's fees and costs associated with the litigation. Otherwise, all of the church's money comes from the combined income of its congregants and money won in lawsuits against their opponents.