Slain Marine's father ordered to pay legal fees for hate mongers

Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, USMC, was killed in 2006 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His family grieved ... a nation grieved.

Enter Westboro "Baptist" Church out of Topeka, Kansas. I put quotes around "Baptist" because there's nothing Baptist about this group of hate mongers who trail behind military funerals throughout the nation, brandishing signs that say things like, "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for IEDs."

Michael Reagan has written about how the father of Lance Cpl. Snyder took this group to court to try and stop their shameful demonstrating at military funerals, how he won, and how the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the finding saying it infringed on Westboro's First Amendment rights. What is worse, the court has ordered Mr. Snyder to pay Westboro's $16,000 in legal fees. But what of the First Amendment rights? Michael Reagan wrote:

... I do not believe that these rights are unlimited, without regard to our basic humanity. I do not believe that they allow free Americans to cross the bounds of decency while intruding on the privacy of fellow citizens. In short, I don’t believe that our Constitution affords disturbed protesters the right to interfere with a peaceful memorial service for a fallen Marine. I can only hope and pray that the Supreme Court will agree and rule in favor of Mr. Snyder.

Others are outraged by this story and stepping in to help. Bill O'Reilly of Fox News has offered to pay Mr. Snyder's outstanding legal fees ... and the Patriot Guard Riders, those strong patriots on motorcycles who stand guard at military funerals, have stepped in:

They are motorcycle riders from across America whose main mission is, if invited by the grieving families, to attend the funerals of our service men and women and provide an escort for the fallen military member and their family, so as to ensure that no protests or demonstrations can disrupt the services. These are men and women who simply recognized that groups such as Westboro were hurting families at a time when they were most vulnerable and grieving. I ask each of you to visit the Patriot Guard’s website and join their ranks. You need not own a motorcycle or even have ridden one in the past. Rather, they proudly state that their only prerequisite to membership is “respect.”

The Patriot Guard Riders have stood guard at military funerals in Augusta County. They are good people.