Former Marine protests funeral picketers - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Former Marine protests funeral picketers

The Westboro Baptist Church, whose members have picketed the funerals of fallen troops, is now facing protesters at its own front door.

Former Marine and Iraq veteran Jerry Bacidore, along with about 15 supporters, recently traveled nine hours from LaSalle, Ill., to attend a service at the Topeka, Kan., church and stage a silent protest.

Westboro has gained much attention for its practice of picketing outside military funerals, carrying signs with hate-filled messages, such as “Thank God for IEDs,” and attributing troop deaths to the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.

Highly offended by these actions, Bacidore wanted to do something about it.

“As a Marine, I was taught to take the fight to the enemy,” he said. “We don’t defend. We counterattack.”

The plan was to stand silently during the April 25 service, dressed in black, representing all fallen troops, Bacidore said. Prior to arriving, Bacidore said his group received approval to attend from Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Westboro pastor Fred Phelps. But when they arrived, they found the church service time had been changed and that the service was no longer public.

Phelps-Roper, according to an Associated Press report, said the time of the service was changed to accommodate members who had to leave for Virginia to picket a memorial service for 29 people who died in a coal mining accident.

Rather than be deterred, Bacidore’s group of veterans and supporters instead brandished signs and staged a protest at a major intersection near the church.

The people of Topeka responded graciously.

“Everybody was honking their horns and waving,” Bacidore said. “Some pulled over and joined the protest.”

Topeka residents have pledged to continue the protest, Bacidore said. Based on this support, he plans to be back again to face off against Westboro.

“We don’t want any conflicts with them,” he added. “We want to do this with honor, but it is going to continue.”

Bacidore, 39, said he traveled to Iraq and Somalia while serving with 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, from 1989 to 1993, leaving the service as a lance corporal. After Sept. 11, he joined the Army National Guard and returned to Iraq.

Albert Snyder, the father of a lance corporal killed in Iraq, has an ongoing lawsuit against the Westboro church, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. Proceedings are scheduled for October. Snyder, whose son Matthew died in vehicle rollover, argues that the church’s right to free speech should not impede a family’s right to grieve.