Westboro Baptist Church, a group with a history of staging protests at funerals and issuing anti-gay statements, is planning to picket the Saturday funeral of Elizabeth Edwards.
The group said it will picket outside Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh from 12:15 until 1 p.m. when the funeral is scheduled to begin.
The group, based in Topeka, Kan., travels nationally to picket funerals.
The group came into the national spotlight when members picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young man from Wyoming who was beaten to death by two men because of his homosexuality. Westboro has protested at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan and well-known people such as Fred Rogers, Coretta Scott King and Jerry Falwell.
Lately, decent Americans have been peacefully counter-protesting this hate group by blocking their signs with large American flags. If you live in the Triangle area and you’re free on Saturday, the church is at 228 West Edenton Street downtown, a few blocks from the state capitol. Flags are optional.
The counter protesters should arrive very early and take up the entire sidewalks surrounding the church and across the street as well. Then the Westboro hate cult won’t have any place to stand, not that they have any standing in the first place. These people have serious mental problems for harassing funerals. No wonder they get their tires slashed on a regular basis.
I can´t get there that early, but would there be a need to have counter-protesters around later?