From: "Rich Gauszka" 


"John Beckett"  wrote
in message news:ur2o72hd78h8vlj2oi1b3o3grhcsjq3j7p{at}4ax.com...
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> news::
>> There is a group of religious wackos from the Westboro Baptist Church
>> that
>> is going from military funeral site to military funeral site to disrupt
>> services. It's happened a few times in Michigan and Veterans groups have
>> had
>> to protect the mourners. It should be noted that these protestors are NOT
>> protesting the war - see link below.
>>
>> http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006604070413
>
> Wow - it's amazing no one has been severely damaged as a result of this
> pathetic activity. I suppose the mourners are too much in shock to react
> as they might at another time.
>
> Just goes to show that stupidity will always find a way...
>

At a few of the funerals in Michigan it became quite tense but there is a
group of volunteer bikers called the Patriot Guard that has attempted to
shield families from the protests and keep the peace.  At one of the
protests here the only thing that saved the protestors from a violent
confrontation (they were hugely outnumbered by angry mourners) was the
Patriot Guard.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/METRO/603270361

The Patriot Guard has responded by putting out "action alerts" to
shield family members of fallen soldiers from the pickets at funerals
nationwide.

"Every one of us veterans has fought for the rights of freedom of
speech and press. But this is just a hate group looking for
publicity," said Larry Helser, a 59-year-old Marine Corps veteran from
the Lansing area and member of the Patriot Guard.

"We want to obscure the view of this fallen hero's family from these
protesters. No politics. No violence. We just want to make sure, in a
peaceful fashion, they are able to say goodbye without any problems."

The protesters have cited free speech as a defense in their activities over
the past decade, including the picketing of funerals of AIDS victims and
that of Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming college student beaten to death because
he was gay.

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