How Tucson kept Westboro Baptist Church protests out of town
| Tucson, Ariz.
United in grief over the Arizona mass shooting, Tucsonans and their sympathizers accomplished what others could not: run the controversial Westboro Baptist Church out of town.
Members of the church have protested outside military funerals across the United States as they attempt to spread their message that America is being punished for its growing tolerance of gay rights. But in Tucson, protesters did not show up at the first two funerals for shooting victims 鈥� held for 9-year-old Christina Green and US District Judge John Roll.
Instead, the Topeka, Kan., church will take to the airwaves. In exchange for canceling its planned pickets at the funerals of the six shooting victims, the church announced, it will get air time on two radio shows.
The move has sparked some criticism from pundits who say the church 鈥� which consists mostly of the Rev. Fred Phelps and his family members 鈥� will reach a far wider audience through radio than it would have at the funeral sites.
鈥淧eople are saying they don鈥檛 deserve the air time, and they probably don鈥檛. But these families do not deserve what the protesters wanted to do to them, either,鈥� Tucson resident Patti Standard says.
On Saturday, church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper is expected to get 30 minutes of air time on a Phoenix talk show hosted by Steve Sanchez. And on Monday, the nationally syndicated Mike Gallagher show will give an hour to Ms. Phelps-Roper.
鈥淥ne hour of radio time on my radio show is quite insignificant compared to [what] the grieving families and the mourning families have to go through,鈥� says Mr. Gallagher, a conservative political commentator.
Phelps-Roper won鈥檛 simply have an open mic, he notes. She will be debating Dinesh D鈥橲ouza, president of The King鈥檚 College in New York City and author of 鈥淲hat鈥檚 So Great About 海角大神ity.鈥�
The emergency law that Arizona lawmakers passed earlier in the week in reaction to the planned pickets was unlikely to stop the protests, Gallagher says. The legislation makes protests illegal within 300 feet of any home, house of worship, cemetery, or funeral home just before, during, or after a ceremony or burial.
鈥淚 know these people: They don鈥檛 even want to get 300 feet away. And besides, even if they violate the law, it鈥檚 a misdemeanor,鈥� Gallagher says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a slap on the wrist.鈥�
The best deterrent is 鈥渢o keep them from ever going,鈥� says Gallagher, adding that those who don鈥檛 want to hear the radio segments have the option to turn their radio off.
The Westboro Baptist Church鈥檚 antigay protests have angered many Americans and have raised difficult free-speech questions. The US Supreme Court is weighing a case that involves the group鈥檚 actions.
From what some Tucson residents know about the church, they鈥檝e decided not to tune in to the radio shows.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody in Tucson will have the show on,鈥� says C.J. Doyle, a resident who went to Christina's funeral along with 20-year-old daughter Emily. 鈥淏ut I think it鈥檚 going to end up good because you鈥檙e not going to have a whole bunch of people exposed to that particular group.鈥�
Phoenix resident Marshall Stone, who traveled to Tucson to pay his respects, was glad the protesters left the mourning families alone.
鈥淚 have a daughter, and I can鈥檛 imagine the parents having to bury their daughter, and then on top of that to be bothered by somebody like the Westboro people,鈥� he says.
Six people were killed in Saturday鈥檚 mass shooting, and 14 others were injured, including US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D).
