Deborah Bell
clark.patch.com
Mayor Sal Bonaccorso acknowledges right to protest, says police will be on hand in case of emergency.
The Westboro Baptist Church protesters plan to be outside St. Agnes Church in Clark Monday, holding up signs at the funeral of Marine Cpl. Kevin Reinhard. The signs declare his death in Afghanistan as a sign of God's judgment on America.
In Sam Phelps-Roper's view, he and his fellow parishioners at Westboro are doing God's work.
The deaths of soldiers oversees, they believe, is because various states in the country have legalized homosexual marriage, he said.
Homosexuals, Phelps-Roper said, "are the lowest rung on the ladder of depravity. You set it up on a pedestal and call it holy. [Americans] fornicate with everything that moves, God hates those things. This nation is awash in idolatry in all its forms."
It doesn't seem readily apparent what that has to do with the death of Cpl. Reinhard. The 25-year-old Marine, a Colonia resident, was killed along with five other soldiers in a January 19 helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso said he spoke with Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac and both municipalities are coordinating their police efforts.
"We will have the police at St. Agnes. The protesters will be 500 ft. away from the church. They won't even be visible," Bonaccorso said. "Three to five of them won't be a problem."
McCormac could not be reached for comment.
"They have a right to express their speech, whether we agree with it or not. We will follow all the rules," Bonaccorso said. "But this is a hero who gave his life for his country. I don't need them upsetting anybody."
In Phelps-Roper's opinion, soldiers are dying because God wants it that way.
"This foolish nation thinks they can do a thing that is called an abomination. We can focus on chasing Arabs in caves, God sits in heaven and laughs, and sends children home in body bags," he said.
Phelps-Roper is the grandson of Westboro founder Fred Phelps. The church, which has been labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, has approximately 80 members and is based in Kansas.
They fly all over the country, Phelps-Roper said, to protest at the funerals of soldiers killed in war.
But not all soldiers, according to Phelps-Roper.
"We get to as many as we can where there is a public spectacle. If it's a private funeral and they aren't having a public service, insisting that God is blessing America when clearly he is not, we don't go," he said.
On the township website, Woodbridge residents who wish to honor Cpl. Reinhard are urged to "line both sides of Inman Avenue" after the funeral mass at St. Agnes Church in Clark. Cpl. Reinhard will be buried at St. Gertrude's Cemetery in Colonia.
But the township's gesture isn't what caught the Westboro Baptist Church's attention.
Phelps-Roper said the church is responding to information found at the Patriot Guard forum, a motorcycle club that attend funerals of soliders, firefighters, and police, but only after being invited by family members.
The Patriot Guard began in 2005, to provide a response to the activities of the Westboro group. They block the group from having to be seen by mourners at funerals, and they rev their motorcycles to drown out the Westboro protests.
Whatever fallen hero the Patriot Guard wishes to honor is where the Westboro clan will be, Phelps-Roper said.
"We've been to hundreds of [funerals]. We aren't trying to get into anyone's face. We protest thousands of feet if not miles away. We leave when the funeral starts. We don't invade the funerals or cemeteries," he said, pointing out that his church's members consider themselves to be law-abiding citizens.
There was no mention of how far away the Westboro protesters will be placed from the church, which is the only place Phelps-Roper plans on picketing.
The Patriot Guard may easily overwhelm the Westboro group, though. Phelps-Roper said that only "three to five" protesters from the church will show up to protest in Clark.
Information about the wake and funeral of Cpl. Kevin Reinhard can be found in his obituary.
In Sam Phelps-Roper's view, he and his fellow parishioners at Westboro are doing God's work.
The deaths of soldiers oversees, they believe, is because various states in the country have legalized homosexual marriage, he said.
Homosexuals, Phelps-Roper said, "are the lowest rung on the ladder of depravity. You set it up on a pedestal and call it holy. [Americans] fornicate with everything that moves, God hates those things. This nation is awash in idolatry in all its forms."
It doesn't seem readily apparent what that has to do with the death of Cpl. Reinhard. The 25-year-old Marine, a Colonia resident, was killed along with five other soldiers in a January 19 helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso said he spoke with Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac and both municipalities are coordinating their police efforts.
"We will have the police at St. Agnes. The protesters will be 500 ft. away from the church. They won't even be visible," Bonaccorso said. "Three to five of them won't be a problem."
McCormac could not be reached for comment.
"They have a right to express their speech, whether we agree with it or not. We will follow all the rules," Bonaccorso said. "But this is a hero who gave his life for his country. I don't need them upsetting anybody."
In Phelps-Roper's opinion, soldiers are dying because God wants it that way.
"This foolish nation thinks they can do a thing that is called an abomination. We can focus on chasing Arabs in caves, God sits in heaven and laughs, and sends children home in body bags," he said.
Phelps-Roper is the grandson of Westboro founder Fred Phelps. The church, which has been labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, has approximately 80 members and is based in Kansas.
They fly all over the country, Phelps-Roper said, to protest at the funerals of soldiers killed in war.
But not all soldiers, according to Phelps-Roper.
"We get to as many as we can where there is a public spectacle. If it's a private funeral and they aren't having a public service, insisting that God is blessing America when clearly he is not, we don't go," he said.
On the township website, Woodbridge residents who wish to honor Cpl. Reinhard are urged to "line both sides of Inman Avenue" after the funeral mass at St. Agnes Church in Clark. Cpl. Reinhard will be buried at St. Gertrude's Cemetery in Colonia.
But the township's gesture isn't what caught the Westboro Baptist Church's attention.
Phelps-Roper said the church is responding to information found at the Patriot Guard forum, a motorcycle club that attend funerals of soliders, firefighters, and police, but only after being invited by family members.
The Patriot Guard began in 2005, to provide a response to the activities of the Westboro group. They block the group from having to be seen by mourners at funerals, and they rev their motorcycles to drown out the Westboro protests.
Whatever fallen hero the Patriot Guard wishes to honor is where the Westboro clan will be, Phelps-Roper said.
"We've been to hundreds of [funerals]. We aren't trying to get into anyone's face. We protest thousands of feet if not miles away. We leave when the funeral starts. We don't invade the funerals or cemeteries," he said, pointing out that his church's members consider themselves to be law-abiding citizens.
There was no mention of how far away the Westboro protesters will be placed from the church, which is the only place Phelps-Roper plans on picketing.
The Patriot Guard may easily overwhelm the Westboro group, though. Phelps-Roper said that only "three to five" protesters from the church will show up to protest in Clark.
Information about the wake and funeral of Cpl. Kevin Reinhard can be found in his obituary.
