What do you do when protesters
threaten to disrupt funeral or burial services
for military personnel, adding to the family's grief?
Ron Messenger, director of cemetery and funeral operations, Mountain View Funeral Home & Memorial Park, Tacoma, Washington.
Preplanning to protect families from protesters
In May, services for two active duty military personnel were held at Mountain View Funeral Home & Memorial Park, Tacoma, Washington. One service, held on Armed Forces Day, received extensive media coverage.
Mountain View had handled similar services before, but this time things were different. This time, a handful of protestors from the infamous Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, showed up.
Nevertheless, the story in The (Tacoma) News Tribune and on three television stations focused on the deceased soldier, the friends and family members who mourned his loss and the service held to honor his memory.
An early warning
Mountain View had gotten a heads up from a U.S. Army ranger about being on the picketing list for the church, which has gained notoriety by protesting the funerals of active duty military personnel, said Ron Messenger, director of cemetery and funeral operations.
"I hated to log onto the church's Web site, to tell you the truth, due to its objectionable content," Messenger said, "but I did, and both of our funerals were listed on the funerals to be protested." (Editor's note: This link will take you directly to the protest schedule.)
Mountain View immediately took steps to protect the families. The keys were investigating its rights in dealing with protesters, cooperating with local authorities and communicating with families and staff.
"My job was exploring our legal rights for keeping them off of our property-or getting them off if they came in stealthily," said company President Cindy Thompson, CCFE. "I also took the responsibility for trying hard to keep our 70+ staff members up to date on what was happening as plans evolved. We felt it was important to try to control rumors and help people feel safe and that we were on top of things."
The WBC plan for the first service listed the Tahoma National Cemetery, about 30 miles from Mountain View, as the protest site, rather than the funeral chapel. As it turned out, there were no protests at that service, either at Mountain View or at the national cemetery.
Funeral director Bill Straley said the WBC group files for permission to protest many more places than it actually shows up, just to generate publicity. "They were scheduled to be three different places on the day and time they were supposed to be here," he said of the second service, held on Armed Forced Day. Nevertheless, protesters did show up at Mountain View for that second service.
That service was for a Lakewood native who had been a forestry firefighter before joining the Army; more than 150 people attended the funeral. Both the funeral and burial were at Mountain View.
Funeral director Bill Straley, who worked with the family of a serviceman whose funeral was attended by more than 150 people.
Help from police, Patriot Guard Riders
Messenger's job was to make sure security was coordinated not only to protect the soldiers' families but also the other families Mountain View would be serving those days. The cemetery lies in two cities, Lakewood and Tacoma, so he dealt with the police departments in both, as well as law enforcement personnel in King County, where Tahoma National Cemetery is located.
"They were all extremely interested in helping us make sure there was no disruption to any family," Messenger said.
Mountain View's by-laws and Washington state law give the organization the right to restrict activities on their property. "If someone is disruptive, or has the potential for disruption or interruption of the daily business of the cemetery or funeral home, we can evict them," Messenger said.
Known protesters were not going to be allowed on the grounds. "I was at the gate a couple of hours, just kind of monitoring the cars coming in," Messenger said. "It was very busy, though. We had, I think, nine services that day, so we had an extraordinary amount of traffic coming into the park." Unless a car had a Kansas license plate or a picket sign visible in the back seat, a potential protester was going to be difficult to spot.
If protesters made it onto the grounds, all Mountain View staff members were told to avoid tangling with them. "We let everyone know that this group funds itself by trying to initiate a confrontation with staff so it can then try to bring a lawsuit against you," Messenger said.
His advice to anyone dealing with a similar situation: "Make sure if anything happens, it's handled by law enforcement, not your staff."
"We had law enforcement posted at our gates to dissuade activity near our entrance," Messenger said. The protesters who did show up stayed outside Mountain View's property, about a block down the street from the main entrance. "I didn't see them or their signs," he said. "When I went down to check on where they were, they had left."
One of the television stations showed some footage of the protesters, but "there were no confrontations or problems whatsoever," Messenger said.
Any funeral home or cemetery handling services targeted by the WBC for protests should immediately contact local law enforcement authorities, Messenger said. "I don't think you'll ever have a problem getting the help you'll need in this type of situation."
Photos on the WBC Web site of the protest outside Mountain View consist mainly of close-ups of their signs: "Pray for more dead soldiers," "Soldiers die, God laughs," "America is doomed" and others at least as offensive.
The Patriot Guard Riders, volunteers who attend military funerals on their motorcycles to honor service personnel, were there when both of the soldiers' bodies arrived at Fort Lewis, about five miles from Mountain View.
"When we brought the caskets to our grounds, the motorcycles escorted the hearse," Messenger said. "They also escorted the family into the grounds. There were police escorts, as well."
Members of the Patriot Guard Riders have a lot of experience in dealing with the WBC protesters and helped reassure the families, Straley said. "We probably had 75 motorcycles here, and each of the members of the group held flags."
The Patriot Guard Riders "do a very nice service," Messenger said. "They always ask for permission before they do anything, in case a family does not want them to be present. They lined the roads in our park from where the service was held to the grave, and stood at attention with flags flying.
"They don't want to become involved in a confrontation with the protesters. Basically, they're there to honor the veteran and the family. They do provide a nice buffer between the families and the protesters."
All families with services scheduled on Armed Forces Day were told about the potential for protests so they would not be surprised.
"We wanted to make sure everybody knew what had been threatened," Messenger said. "But we also kept them informed about the steps we had taken."
Communication with staff was important as well, he said, advising funeral directors and cemeterians facing a similar situation to let staff know "what the potential disruptions are and what steps you're taking so they can feel comfortable and concentrate on helping the families."
Copyright ICCFA 2007
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