funeral protesters???? UPDATE

[akhenaten]

Sadly my community will soon be having a funeral for a young marine who was killed in Iraq. There has been talk of protesters attending the funeral.....
Has anyone encountered this in their community........any advice as to how to handle it? I am usually peaceful but just the thought of anyone disrespecting this family at this time infuriates me!!!

I hope that our community can be allowed to honor this man and his family in a dignified fashion.........


UPDATE:

My community of Little Ferry NJ was able to pay tribute to our fallen hero , Marine Sgt. Matthew J. Fenton age 24, with dignity. He was struck by shrapnel in Iraq's Al Anbar province on April 26 after alerting his comrades to the presence of a suicide bomber. All escaped serious harm except Matthew who died at the Bethesda Medical center on May 5 after receiving the purple heart at a bedside ceremony.

Thousands of my neighbors lined Liberty street for 1/2 a mile to honor and line the procession route from our Borough Hall( where the wake was held) to St. Margarets Church for the funeral . There was complete silence for the 25 minutes it took for the solomn procession......young little league players held hats over hearts and aging veterans held a salute with shaking hands as a mournful lone drumbeat was the only sound heard.
The Patriot Guard and the Nam knights lined the route with their motorcycles and it is quite a moving sight to see ( and also comforting to know that good folks like these are protecting and honoring our military families)

Matthew had wanted to become a police officer either in our town or our county after he left the Marines and he was made a Little Ferry police officer this past friday, badge # 44 retired.

We can never repay this family for the sacrifice of their son.......I only hope that in some small way the community support during this time can help them ....


Thank you all for the support here and I hope that we can all help to see that laws are passed to protect grieving families for those extremists who seek to twist a time of personal grief and use it to advance their own sick platform.....

 

[Deb in IA]

So sad that you've been found by the Fred Phelps gang of miscreants.


Contact the Patriot Guard Bikers. http://www.patriotguard.org/
They are a group of bikers who go around and shield the mourners from the Phelps lunatics with huge flags, and when they start to chant, they rev their engines to drown them out.

 

[bigmerle1966]

Sadly my community will soon be having a funeral for a young marine who was killed in Iraq. There has been talk of protesters attending the funeral.....
Has anyone encountered this in their community........any advice as to how to handle it? I am usually peaceful but just the thought of anyone disrespecting this family at this time infuriates me!!!

I hope that our community can be allowed to honor this man and his family in a dignified fashion.........

There have been a couple threads about these people, they are from a church somewhere and have serious issues.

 

[wdw4us2]

Sadly my community will soon be having a funeral for a young marine who was killed in Iraq. There has been talk of protesters attending the funeral.....

I am usually peaceful but just the thought of anyone disrespecting this family at this time infuriates me!!!

I hope that our community can be allowed to honor this man and his family in a dignified fashion.........

Treat them as though they're invisible. The thought that anyone would protest someone's funeral for whatever reason infuriates me.

Leave the family alone in their grief!

 

[cteddiesgirl]

Yes. It's sad that these sick people are doing this kind of thing. Contact Patriot Guard and also make sure you find out the laws about how close these people can get. There have been laws passed recently on how close to the funerals they can get. And make sure they abide by those laws by contacting the police and letting them know of the situation.

The families and friends of these fallen military personnel already are suffering and don't need any more stress laid on them.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Deb, thanks for posting that link. I knew there was a group that did that but had no idea what the name was.

 

[akhenaten]

Thanks for your responses. I have been reading the Patriot guard website and I do hope that the family choses to invite them! I see they have the Marines name listed and I hope they are contacting the family!!
It would really be reassuring to know they are coming.

I also found a link to the lunatics(WBC) website and I do not see the funeral listed yet.........

I know we have a terrific councilman who is trying to help co-ordinate everything and I an sure he will do his best!

People have been placing flowers at the family home and all of the flags in town are at half-staff....many signs and flags are going up all over town..it is just so sad........I fill up every time I drive around town and see those tributes to a Hero.....

 

[agnes!]

NOTE - agnes! is unable to write what she REALLY thinks of the Fred Phelps cult since it would probably scorch all your monitors .

I know that the Fred Phelps gang seem to think that they are Christian, but according to the Scriptures I know, calling them "Christian" is like calling the Islamist hoodlums "Muslim".

I would consider attending whatever part of the services you can. Something else...maybe find out where the cortege's route will go, get a group of like-minded folks together and stand there waving flags, saluting as the hearse goes by or something similar.

agnes!

 

[akhenaten]

Oh I plan to attend.......and I will be speaking with my neighbor who is a police officer and letting him know that my family and I will stand wherever we are needed!!!

When I first heard of the death of this young man...I knew I wanted to show his family my respect and support......now I know I want to do everything possible to make sure they are allowed to grieve in dignity and peace!!!

 

[DVC Sadie]

This group infuriates me and the disruption to grieving families is more than should be tolerated.

We just watched the biker group (made up of vets, doctors, lawyers and every walk of life.) this past weekend and am grateful they are there to help bring peace.

And to think that soldiers died and continue to die for so called "christians" freedom of speech. Makes me physically ill.

Its taken me a little time to post and a lot of backspacing so I would not be thrown off the dis boards. Sometimes I really have to back away from my laptop in order to be safe.

Hugs and prayers to the OP and I will be thinking of you.

 

[DISUNC]

So sad that you've been found by the Fred Phelps gang of miscreants.


Contact the Patriot Guard Bikers. http://www.patriotguard.org/
They are a group of bikers who go around and shield the mourners from the Phelps lunatics with huge flags, and when they start to chant, they rev their engines to drown them out.

To the OP, I am so sorry to hear this. My condolences. This is truly heartbreaking for all involved.

Deb in IA, How do you know that these people protesting are "Fred Phelps" gang?

I have never heard of Fred Phelps before, so I just googled his name.... Boy I have been lucky so far! This guy seems like a all time !
However no where in any article can I find mention of his 'groups' protesting funerals of Heroes.
What am I missing here.

Thanks

 

[akhenaten]

To the OP, I am so sorry to hear this. My condolences. This is truly heartbreaking for all involved.

Deb in IA, How do you know that these people protesting are "Fred Phelps" gang?

I have never heard of Fred Phelps before, so I just googled his name.... Boy I have been lucky so far! This guy seems like a all time !
However no where in any article can I find mention of his 'groups' protesting funerals of Heroes.
What am I missing here.

Thanks

Hi OP here....I have been spending the evening reading about the Patriot Guard and the Phelps "wacko " group......they do indeed have a website whose very name is offensive and they proudly have photos posted of themselves protesting at funerals....one sign stated "thank G*d for IEDS"!! If I see anyone holdng that sign at the funeral I don't know what I will do!!

I have seen them over the years on the news holding their neon posters spewing filth and never thought about them coming to my town....they have a protest at a funeral planned for tomorrow morning in Corona NY(it is listed on their website)....I only regret that I can not go there and stand for SGt. Gomez' family......

I will not post the name of thier so called church but if you search you may find it like I did.

 

[N.Bailey]

To the OP, I am so sorry to hear this. My condolences. This is truly heartbreaking for all involved.

Deb in IA, How do you know that these people protesting are "Fred Phelps" gang?

I have never heard of Fred Phelps before, so I just googled his name.... Boy I have been lucky so far! This guy seems like a all time !
However no where in any article can I find mention of his 'groups' protesting funerals of Heroes.
What am I missing here.

Thanks

From his site:

http://www.godhatesfags.com/main/index.html I clicked on schedule and you can see the scheduled protests of funerals he plans on attending.

http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/Picket_Information.html

I don't understand how they can call themselves Christians.

 

[southernbella]

Yes, unfortunatly, our fair city & state have been graced with their presence more than once. The 1st time the showed up, it was for a funeral for a young man that was killed because he was gay. They have steadily been coming back for the soldier's funerals.

Matter of fact, there was a Patriot ride last Saturday. Those riders are the greatest! I have had the pleasure of meeting some of them & they are truly great people. The funeral I went to, the riders blocked the family from the protesters & revved their engines to drown out the protesters yelling. I am not a violent person, but I wanted to got slap the smirks off of their faces (Phelps clan). I have grown up around some pretty religious people, but these wackjobs take the cake(not trying to offend religous people- I don't consider these people to be Christians)

It blows my mind that people would take a funeral as an opportunity to claim their 15 minutes of fame. Sbella

 

[bigmerle1966]

To the OP, I am so sorry to hear this. My condolences. This is truly heartbreaking for all involved.

Deb in IA, How do you know that these people protesting are "Fred Phelps" gang?

I have never heard of Fred Phelps before, so I just googled his name.... Boy I have been lucky so far! This guy seems like a all time !
However no where in any article can I find mention of his 'groups' protesting funerals of Heroes.
What am I missing here.

Thanks

There have been a few threads here about him coming to Dis'ers areas and protesting at funerals. And because of him and his group a lot of states are coming up with laws about how close groups can be to funerals. They protest at them because they say that God is killing these soldiers because the US supports homosexuals.

 

[pumba]

they had threatened to come to Maine for a funeral. Besides the bikers coming to help and honor the deceased but also they were not going to be allowed on the school property, they decided it was not worth it.
We just lost two Mainers this week and hope and pray that they do not try to come again.....

 

[transparant]

These Phelps protestors make me sick. The protest signs they have are dispicable and the things they yell are worse. Nothing infuriates me more..........

 

[DISUNC]

Hi OP here....I have been spending the evening reading about the Patriot Guard and the Phelps "wacko " group......they do indeed have a website whose very name is offensive and they proudly have photos posted of themselves protesting at funerals....one sign stated "thank G*d for IEDS"!! If I see anyone holdng that sign at the funeral I don't know what I will do!!

I have seen them over the years on the news holding their neon posters spewing filth and never thought about them coming to my town....they have a protest at a funeral planned for tomorrow morning in Corona NY(it is listed on their website)....I only regret that I can not go there and stand for SGt. Gomez' family......

I will not post the name of thier so called church but if you search you may find it like I did.

I must admit, I am rarely speachless! The website of the Phelps ********* , left me completley speachless & sickened. Not only is it vulgar & crude (I am being "dis pc" here) it makes absolutely no sense! Didn't spend too much time there! YIKES!

I thought I read most of these boards, and Legit newspapers...and I never heard of them. Perhaps 'Legit' news has their reasons, less publicity.

For anyone who ever has a question of what porn is....This website is truly is a accurate sample.

Anyhow, I will be reading the Patriot Guard website in full, and making a donation.

To akhenaten,
I hope & pray that these hoodlums don't show up to your town. My thoughts are with Our fallen troops and all their loved ones in their hour of need.

To all other postings
I appreciate the the info!

 

[tar heel]

The disgusting website now has a funeral on Wednesday in Missouri listed -- is that where you are OP?

How can normal Americans participate in this filth in the name of God? Operation Save America is headquartered in my community, and even they don't do funerals. They do get children arrested and display gigantic pictures of fetuses while yelling things about gays and Muslims through a loudspeaker, however.

 

[MsLeFever]

I have good friends in Buckhannon WV and they told me that these Phelps people came and "protested" (or whatever it is that they do) during the funerals of the Sago miners.