WELCOME, MINN. -- An expected protest by members of a controversial Kansas church didn't materialize Saturday at the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Robert Posivio III, who was killed last month in Iraq. The protest by the group from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka would have been the first test of a state law restricting such demonstrations. The church contends that U.S. military members are dying in Iraq because God is punishing the country for tolerating homosexuality.In Welcome, near Fairmont in southwestern Minnesota, more than 500 friends and relatives filed into St. Paul's United Church of Christ to pay their respects to Posivio, who was killed by a roadside bomb while in a Humvee in Iraq on May 23 on his third tour of duty. They were supported by more than 500 motorcyclists, members of the Patriot Guard Riders from all over the Midwest. The riders were invited by the Posivio family, who are motorcyclists, to serve as a buffer against the expected protesters.
But the Westboro group said on Saturday that instead of protesting in Welcome, members were traveling elsewhere because they had received enough publicity for their cause in the days before the Posivio funeral. Area residents praised the presence of the motorcyclists, who roared into town about 90 minutes before the funeral and then set up an honor guard of flags on the both sides of the street leading to the church.
The new state law requires protesters at funerals to stay at least 500 feet from the church or graveside. It was passed in part because of the actions of the Westboro group at a funeral in Anoka in February for Army Cpl. Andrew Kemple. More than 50 officers were stationed around Welcome on Saturday.