(BEND) - The anti-gay hate group from Topeka, Kansas that operates the Website godhatesfags.com, announced plans to demonstrate at the memorial service for Private First Class Thomas Tucker on Saturday, but they will have to do so in the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center parking lot.
The Deschutes County commissioners took the action amid reports that members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas might picket the service at the fairgrounds in Redmond on Saturday.
The group is headed by the notorious Pastor Fred Phelps.
He claims that American soldiers are dying in Iraq because homosexuality is condoned in American homes.
Thursday`s order from the commissioners allows Deschutes County authorities to remove protesters who fail to stay in the assigned area for demonstrations.
The order also applies to those who might hold counter-protest demonstrations.
The group has been traveling to the funerals of soldiers to stage protests in recent months, using each tragedy to bring attention to themselves, and drawing the ire of citizens nearly everywhere they go. One veteran described their actions as `The single most disrespectful act anyone from a supposedly Christian church has ever attempted. It is no wonder they are getting attacked nearly everywhere they go."
Anti-Gay Demonstrators Told to Stay Away From Oregon Soldier's Funeral ServiceSalem-News.com