By George P. Matysek Jr.
WESTMINSTER – As the Supreme Court considers a high-profile case involving the Westboro Baptist Church, much media attention has focused on what the Kansas church members did outside St. John parish during Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder’s 2006 funeral.
Snyder was killed when his Humvee overturned in an accident in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.
Outside the Carroll County funeral, the anti-gay and anti-Catholic Westboro protesters held signs with inflammatory messages such as “God hates fags” and “Matt in hell.” They insisted that the Marine, who was not gay, was killed through an act of God’s vengeance on America for its tolerance of homosexuality.
There were others outside the church that day, however, holding symbols of a much different nature.
Ten students from each grade of St. John School carried American flags as they lined the driveway at the end of the funeral Mass. Some carried banners with messages such as, “Thank you, LCpl. Snyder, for your sacrifice” and “God Bless LCpl. Snyder.”
After seeing the Patriot Guard Riders sing patriotic hymns, some students had earlier asked for and received permission to stand on the front steps of the school to sing patriotic hymns too. The Guard Riders travel around the country shielding grieving families from the Westboro group.
“I wanted to wave the flag because that man gave his life for our country,” remembered Jakub Smith, a former St. John student who is now a sophomore at Winters Mill High School in Westminster.
Smith said he and his friends were appalled to see the Westboro protesters and wanted to show solidarity with the Snyder family.
“I felt it was the most disrespectful thing I ever saw in my life,” Smith said of the Westboro protest. “It was very, very wrong. My friends and I just looked at each other and we were very sad for the family. They were trying to bury their son.”
Jane Perkins, Snyder’s aunt, described the actions of St. John’s students as a “beautiful tribute to our beloved Matt.”
Perkins and those who were there that day strongly disagree with documents filed in federal court that described the school as being in “lockdown” during the funeral.
“The children were aware of the circumstances of the WBC and chose to bury the dead respectfully,” Perkins said. “They did not choose to hide their faith. The lessons of our Catholic catechism were very evident that March, 2006 day.”
Perkins said the supportive actions of the students, parish leaders, police and others in the community overwhelmed anything the protesters did.
“It’s just a shame that none of that is getting any attention in the media,” she said. “There was so much good at Matt’s funeral. You could feel the love there.”
Phyllis Semler, St. John’s assistant principal, said students provided a “comforting presence.”
“The kids were really reverent,” Semler said. “Usually, if you gather a bunch of kids, they’re going to talk. I couldn’t believe how quiet they were. They knew what they were there for. They were very appreciative of Matthew Snyder’s service.”
Semler noted that shades were drawn in a section of the school building that faced the Westboro protesters.
“The children were all over the windows looking out,” she remembered. “We said, ‘pull the shades,’ so it’s not a distraction when you start teaching. I don’t think it was to hide the fact that they were there.”
In the high court
Albert Snyder, father of the 20-year-old Marine, sued Rev. Fred W. Phelps and members of his Westboro congregation, seeking financial compensation for emotional distress, defamation and other such injuries.
Though the protest was at a distance from the church and the funeral procession was routed so as to avoid traveling near it, Snyder and his family saw coverage of the protest on the news during the wake. Because the Snyders are Catholic, signs used at this particular protest included “Priests Rape Boys” and “Pope in Hell.”
While searching the Internet for stories about his son, Snyder also later came across a piece posted on the Westboro church’s website that said Snyder and his ex-wife taught their son “that God was a liar.”
A Maryland federal district court ruled in favor of Snyder, but the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling, saying, essentially, that the statements on the signs fell within the scope of First Amendment protection.
In October oral arguments, the Supreme Court justices seemed to be trying to find a way to uphold the First Amendment protection of even “very obnoxious” speech, as Justice Stephen Breyer put it, while somehow shielding grief-stricken families from further pain because of such protests.
Discussion in the court touched on whether protests can defame someone who’s dead; whether the Snyder family became “public figures,” opening them to the attacks by Westboro because they talked about Matthew Snyder’s death to reporters; and whether the doctrine of “fighting words” would apply. The doctrine, dating from the 1940s, says that First Amendment protections are limited when someone uses “fighting words” to incite violence.
In an interview with The Catholic Review prior to the Supreme Court arguments, Albert Snyder said having Westboro protesters at his son’s funeral was “like you’re laying on the ground after being beaten and someone is now kicking you in the face.”
He said his main purpose in bringing his case to the high court is to prevent what happened to his family from happening to anyone else’s. He has received donations from around the country to help with his legal expenses, promising to donate anything raised beyond that to help veterans of the Iraq war.
He does not believe the Westboro protesters were exercising their right to free speech. He called such a notion “insulting.”
“I find it insulting for all the men and women who are over there fighting wars,” he said, “for the ones who came back, for our veterans, for the parents who have buried their children, for wives – it’s an insult that anyone would hide behind a freedom that so many people in this country have died for.”
Catholic News Service contributed to this story.
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