patgund: Knotwork (Happy Bunny - Stop Talking)
patgund ([personal profile] patgund) wrote2007-06-06 12:11 pm

Gahhhh......

Just when your opinion of Fred Phelps "church" and family couldn't get much lower....

Woman Arrested During Soldier's Funeral

"Bellevue Officer Joe Gray, who made the arrest, said that at first the group brought out a couple of members' own American flags.

"The arrestee, Ms. Phelps-Roper, put one around her waist. The second one was given to a 10-year-old, who put it on the ground and started kicking it in the area they were protesting," Gray said.

Nebraska law states that it is a Class 3 misdemeanor when a person "intentionally casts contempt or ridicule upon a flag by mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning or trampling upon such flag." The law was passed in 1977.

"It appears the adults weren't stepping on the flag because they knew it was a violation of the law. But they allowed the children to go ahead and do that," Gray said."

[identity profile] cormac.livejournal.com 2007-06-06 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not surprised at all by this. Stomping on flags is a pretty standard protest maneuver for Westboro, and with a family of lawyers I'd be surprised if they DIDN'T know the law. However, I'm surprised they let their kid do it in the presence of a law enforcement official, for the same reason.

In Nebraska, class 3 misdemeanors have a minimum penalty of 2 days in the pillory, right?

[identity profile] patgund.livejournal.com 2007-06-06 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I would be amazed if they didn't know. Since a) most of the family are lawyers (Mr. Phelps himself has a lifetime disbarrment as one), and b) they tend to support their "church" by suing everything they can.

[identity profile] americanstd.livejournal.com 2007-06-06 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Kind of a stupid law, actually.

can't see this one surviving the courts.

[identity profile] jeran.livejournal.com 2007-06-06 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
When it comes to Phelps &co, it's no longer possible to suprise me with how low they can go.