PAINESVILLE, Ohio. (RNS) Followers of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church plan to protest outside the funeral of Lance Corporal David Baker here on Saturday morning.
Baker, 22, of Painesville Township, was killed Oct. 20 while on patrol in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.
Shirley Phelps-Roper, one of the picket leaders for the Kansas church, said a team of seven to 10 protestors will follow state laws and not disrupt the service in their protest of this country’s tolerance of abortion, adultery and its participation in wars.
Protestors will set up at least a half-block from the Zion Lutheran Church on Mentor Avenue well before the 11 a.m. service, she said. They will sing songs and hold signs and depart before the service, she said.
She said following a plan that meets legal limits “makes things blessedly simple.”
Zion Pastor Jimmy Riley said he knows little about previous Westboro protests and hopes to keep the focus on Baker, who he said “loved his country, loved his family and loved his Lord.”
“I think there are better ways to show your Christian love and support than protesting at the funeral of a fellow Christian,” he said.
Teams from Westboro travel to schools or events that attract media attention to give what they call warnings of the imminent destruction of the country by God because of immoral behavior.
Ohio lawmakers passed the “Let Them Rest in Peace Act” that provided a 300-foot zone around a funeral that protesters could not cross one hour before, during and one hour after the service. It also established a 300-foot “floating buffer” around a funeral procession.
A federal court judge removed the buffer from procession routes in 2007 after the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of the church, claiming the ban violated protesters’ right to free speech.