Wounded Afghanistan Veteran Arrested at Westboro Rally

Vet With Guns Arrested at Westboro Rally
December 01, 2010
Wichita Eagle, Kan.
Authorities arrested a wounded, decorated Army veteran after he followed members of a controversial Topeka church and he was found in a vehicle stocked with weapons outside Wichita City Hall on Tuesday, sources said.

In the man's vehicle, which was backed into a spot in the City Hall parking lot, investigators found items including a rifle, a handgun and more than 90 rounds of ammunition, said a source close to the investigation who asked not to be named.

By Tuesday evening, the man, in his 20s, was booked into the Sedgwick County, Kan., Jail on suspicion of stalking, false impersonation and driving with a revoked license, records showed.

Sheriff Bob Hinshaw declined to comment on any items in the man's vehicle but confirmed that sheriff's detectives arrested the man after a detective saw his vehicle following members of Westboro Baptist Church. The church protests at troops' funerals, claiming that war deaths are God's way of punishing the nation for immorality and for tolerance of abortion and homosexuality.

A church spokesman could not be reached Tuesday night.

Sources said the man arrested is a veteran who suffered severe wounds when an improvised bomb exploded in Afghanistan.
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Vet With Guns Arrested at Westboro Rally