Bates County Live has been informed that representatives from the Westboro Baptist Church plan to protest at the upcoming funeral of Cpl. Jacob Carver of Freeman, MO. who died in action November 13th in Afghanistan. The Topeka church, headed by Fred Phelps, has made news headlines many times over by protesting nearby as mourners attend services for fallen soldiers. The exact motivation for the protests are unknown; it appears the church feels there is a tie between homosexuality and those in the armed forces. Although the church exercises the protests under their First Amendment rights and is diligent about obtaining necessary permits to protest, the overwhelming consensus is that the protests are quite disruptive and disrespectful to family and others attending the funeral.
In recent times the Westboro Baptist funeral protests have been met with backlash from local communities, some of which has been quite effective in keeping the protesters at bay. As was the case in Weston MO, where the church had obtained permits to protest the funeral of Sgt. First Class C.J. Sadell who died in Afghanistan last month. Nearly half of the town of 2,000 turned out along the procession route and to occupy the corner where the church planned to protest making it impossible for the Phelps crew to be seen or heard. One local TV station reported that the Westboro Baptist crew did show up, but left without protesting due to the large crowd of townspeople who had gathered there.
The funeral for Carver is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. in Harrisonville at Our Lady Of Lourdes Catholic Church. Although the city does not require gathering permits, it has been learned that Westboro Baptist has scheduled a protest somewhere along the funeral procession route to the Orient Cemetery. Since permits are not required, it is at the discretion of local police to maintain order during such gatherings in Harrisonville.
It appears the scene tomorrow in Harrisonville may be quite similar to Weston last month. A group known as Operation Patriot Shield headed by Jim Millican and Renee Crow is organizing a peaceful, non-violent 'blockade' to keep any Westboro protestors at a distance while the funeral and procession is underway. A facebook page with all pertinent information regarding Operation Patriot Shield may be seen here. Anyone who plans to attend is urged to read the More Info page, as again, this is geared to be a peaceful and non-violent means for mourners to attend the funeral without disruption.
Bates County Live will provide follow up regarding this story tomorrow evening.
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