Members of the Westboro Church protest in Kansas. photo credit AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm
The Westboro Baptist Church, known for protesting at soldier’s funerals, will be in Minnesota on Thursday to protest the legalization of same sex marriage in the state. A counter-protest is being planned by local Pagan Jay Linnel of the Blue Star tradition. His coven members are joining in the counter-protest and invite others to join them. Other non-Pagan groups are also planning peaceful counter-protests.
Counter-protests of Westboro Baptist Church members have often included humor to mock the group and lessen their impact.
Westboro will be at 555 Cedar St / St Paul at 11:00am. The counter-protesters are meeting at the same location at 9am.
Pagan Newswire Collective - Minnesota Bureau 
Hey… from the WBC website picket schedule:
Olmsted County Vital Records & License Office in Rochester, MN August 1, 2013 7:20 AM – 8:00 AM
and…
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN August 1, 2013 8:15 AM – 9:00 AM
Not only will they be at the capitol building, they will also be at the licensing office in St. Paul…. roughly the same locations.
Many times these guys get shut down before they even start, since a lot of times the municipalities refuse to approve their permit to gather. This happened in Moore when they were going to protest at the funerals of the children killed in the tornado that destroyed their school.
They only do this stuff to provoke individuals into attacking their freedom of speech (or to attack them physically). Then they sue the person for a whole lot of money.
The Westboros are a family of attorneys; this is how they make their living, and they have done extremely well by it.
While I do not suggest giving these guys any more reason to do what they do, it would be possible to run them out of business. Damages to property (their bus or church compound, for example) is usually not covered by insurance (that “riot” clause). Of course incurring medical bills would go further toward driving them out of business, but that is a line that probably should not be crossed.
Ideally such actions would be undertaken by someone who is “judgment proof”, meaning that even if they went to court, there would be nothing to collect. Someone who is on welfare or who is already having their wages garnished by student loans, the IRS, or another large debt would be an ideal perpetrator since they have nothing to lose to the Westboro family. A judgment might be issued against them, but if they are already being garnished to the maximum allowed, the W’s are going to have to wait their turn, choosing either to renew their judgment every five years (which costs money) or lose it. In the meantime they are out court costs.
This is Thursday, August 1st? Or next Thursday?
Janette
This Thursday.
Thanks for the heads up, Cara. If you’re there as for the counter protest or as media, please let the counter-protest folks know that our thoughts are with them even if we’re in Russia. Much love and support from Tony and Kira!
Anthony, From my Pagan friends in Russia I understand that there appears to be a fair amount of harassment coming from some parts of the Russian Orthodox Church. Similar problems are happening in other Eastern European countries. I have interviewed people about it for ACTION. So best of luck for the Russian Pagans as well.
Honestly,
Nasty little parasites