I have a brother in Iraq serving our country, (this is a picture of him and I when he was home for Christmas and another one of him showing me his flac jacket) how can things like this be allowed to go on? I am sorry but if something happened to my brother, and I pray everday it doesn't, I would not handle this situation with
FRED PHELPS like the man that just lost and had to bury his marine son, here is the story:
Slagle/AP
The
Kansas
church group protests against U.S. soldiers at a funeral of a Marine in
Maryland
in 2005. Related News: From across
America,
the rich and poor are rising to help
Albert Snyder battle a bizarre church that has stained the
memory of his hero Marine son.
"I was appalled," said
Sally Giannini, a 72-year-old retired bookkeeper from
Spokane,
Wash., told the
Baltimore Sun.
Giannini told the Sun she was sending $10 to help offset Snyder's
$16,510 legal bills.
Snyder was ordered to pay that amount to
Fred Phelps,
leader of the
Westboro Baptist Church in
Topeka,
Kan.,
an anti-gay group that travels the country picketing military funerals,
after his lawsuit was overturned last week by a federal appeals court,
the Sun reported. Phelp's group says military deaths are God's
punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality.
Snyder sued Westboro after its members waved signs saying "God hates
fags" and "God hates the
USA" at the 2006 funeral in
Westminster
of his son,
Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who had been
killed in
Iraq.
A federal jury in
Baltimore awarded Snyder
$11 million in damages in 2007, saying Phelps' group intentionally
inflicted emotional distress on the family. The award was later reduced
to $5 million, and eventually overturned on appeal. It is currently
scheduled to be heard by the
U.S. Supreme Court.
As news of the order to pay some of the court costs spread through
the news media and online, strangers were moved to send money and set up
funds to support Snyder's court battle. Tuesday night, commentator
Bill O'Reilly of
Fox News Channel
offered to pay the court costs owed by Snyder, according to WBAL Radio
in Baltimore.
Mark Seavey, new-media director for the
American Legion, also posted a message Tuesday on
his Legion-affiliated blog, The Burn Pit, urging readers to donate to
the Albert Snyder Fund. The American Legion's message was picked up by
conservative political blogger
Michelle Malkin, who called the Westboro protesters "evil
miscreants" and urged readers to donate.
"Regardless of how you feel about the merits of the Snyders' suit,
the Snyders deserve to know that Americans are forever grateful for
their son's heroism and for the family's sacrifice. We shouldn't stand
by and watch them bankrupted," Malkin wrote.
Money from donations will go toward covering the money owed to
Phelps, and beyond that, toward preparing further appeals, Seavey said.
"As soon as we heard this, we just knew that it was going to go
through the roof, and people were going to be upset. We seized on it,"
Seavey said. "On an issue like this that cuts across political lines,
it's relatively easy, and it's the kind of fight we want to wade into
because it's not right or left, it's right or wrong.
"We're going to do the best we can to make sure that Mr. Snyder
doesn't have to deal with this. We're going to make sure he doesn't have
to pay a red cent."
From
Web sites
to
Twitter pages, people were galled that the
grieving father of a fallen Marine would have to pay a group that uses
such inflammatory tactics. A
Facebook group called "I support
Al
Snyder in His fight against Westboro Baptist Church" had drawn
nearly 12,000 members by the end of the day Tuesday.
In a phone interview with the Sun Tuesday, Snyder said he was
"exhausted" by the long legal ordeal but heartened by the outpouring of
support. He said he has received about 3,000 e-mail messages from people
across the country who planned to contribute.
"It kind of restores your faith in mankind after dealing with this
wacko church," Snyder said. "Win or lose, I'll know that I did
everything I could for Matt, and for all the soldiers and
Marines who are still coming home dying."
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What are your thoughts?
