The sheriff also said there have been reports that groups are planning to protest some of the many funerals lined up in the days ahead.The Church had threatened in a Tweet to picket any West, TX funerals. The church believes that such disasters are God's retribution for tolerating same-sex couples and marriages.
He's talking specifically about the Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas. That group believes tragic events like this are God's punishment for immoral behavior.
The sheriff is having none of it.
"Make no mistake about it," McNamara said. "Any attempt by any group or organization to disrupt the funerals of any of our victims of this tragedy will be dealt with swiftly and prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
But the difficulty has been that the church has successfully contended in the US Supreme Court that their actions constitute protected free speech. However, in the past, the court has allowed governments to regulate time and manner. Some governments have interpreted this as to allow the creation of "free speech zones" where protestors would be restricted to. If the Westboro members were to violate such a buffer zone, then the sheriff could arrest them for disturbing the peace.
The church group has made a living out of filing lawsuits and winning damages and settlements against governments that they say are out of line in restricting their protected right to free speech.
However, the use of free speech works the other way as well. In Boston, 1000 members of the Teamsters Union showed up to block members of the Westboro Baptist Church from disrupting the funeral procession there. Over 400 firefighters from all over the country are expected to show up at the funerals in Texas. There is a group known as the Patriot Guard Riders whose mission is to protect the funerals of military personnel from Westboro protestors.
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