Disgusted Arizona residents are locking arms to stop the Westboro Baptist Church from disrupting the funerals for victims of Saturday’s shooting in Tucson, with bikers and others organizing a massive counter-protest and state lawmakers fast-tracking a bill to hamstring the moves of the organization, FOXNews.com reported Tuesday.
The Kansas-based church is notorious for showing up at the funerals of dead soldiers and other high-profile gatherings wielding inflammatory anti-gay signs.
But when the church announced it would picket the funeral Thursday for the nine-year-old girl who was fatally shot by a gunman at a Tucson grocery store, residents started organizing immediately.
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“It makes me sick to my stomach,” said Glen Littell, who is bringing a pack of bikers from the Phoenix Motorcycle Rider Group to Tucson on Thursday. “They’re a stench from a slaughterhouse. We’re just going to block the stench so the family can catch their breath.”
Arizona state lawmakers are also scrambling to pass a bill that would order protesters to stay 300 feet (91.4 meters) away from the funeral. State Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D), the lead sponsor on the bill, said in an email to colleagues that the plan is to suspend the rules Tuesday and fast-track the bill to protect the victims’ families from the “hateful protest” from the Westboro Baptist Church.
She said she has the support of the Senate president and Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, and the bill will go into effect “immediately” once it is signed.
It is not clear whether the Westboro church intends to picket the funerals of all the victims of Saturday’s attack, which killed six people and injured 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot in the head. One press release from the group declared, “Thank God for the shooter,” and said the group would picket the funerals. Another release announced protest plans only for Thursday.
“God sent the shooter to deal with idolatrous America,” the group said in a statement.
The Westboro church, led by Fred Phelps, believes tragic events like the deaths of soldiers are punishment for tolerance of homosexuality.
The Supreme Court last fall heard arguments in a case brought against Phelps by the father of a soldier killed in Iraq whose funeral was protested by the group in 2006. The father, Albert Snyder, had won a multi-million dollar verdict against the church, claiming invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The court is expected to issue a ruling soon on whether free speech can be curbed at specific locations and events.