Westboro group is ready to stalk another family as they lay to rest a Marine

Westboro group is ready to stalk another family as they lay to rest a Marine killed in Afghanistan. They will show up at the church were prayers will be said and tears will be shed. They will then follow the family and friends to the grave where Sgt. Matthew Abbate's coffin will rest as they take off the American flag, fold it tenderly and hand it over to the family on behalf of a grateful nation. We can talk all we want about freedom in this country including the right to say what we want but unless we talk about the rights of families to not be forced to listen, this nation is far from free for all. Who protects the families right to grieve in peace? Who protects them from being stalked by a group dedicated to hatred hiding behind their claim to be serving God? Does the law no longer take an interest in protecting peaceful people as they attend a funeral?

Westboro church members plan to protest at Marine's funeral in Fresno

By MARC BENJAMIN
McClatchy Newspapers

Published: Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010 - 12:00 am
FRESNO, Calif -- FRESNO, Calif. - Members of a controversial Kansas church group who protest at funerals of America's war dead say they'll be in Fresno Saturday to picket the funeral of a Clovis Marine.

A group of "not more than six" members of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., will be protesting outside Peoples Church in northeast Fresno - where funeral services are scheduled for Marine Sgt. Matthew Abbate - and then follow the procession to the burial in Merced County, church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper said Friday.

Abbate, 26, died Dec. 2 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.



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Westboro church members plan to protest at Marine's funeral in Fresno