Officials: Don't dignify bigotry with a response
COEUR d'ALENE - Do not confront them.
That's the best way to respond to protesters from Westboro Baptist Church, say human rights leader Tony Stewart and Coeur d'Alene School District Superintendent Hazel Bauman.
"We abhor the message promulgated by this group," Bauman wrote Tuesday, in an e-mail sent to some of her key staff members. "We will not engage with them and will do all we can to prevent our students from engaging with them as this is their ploy. We do not wish to play into their hands or even dignify this bigotry with a response."
Earlier this week, the Kansas-based church's lawyers notified North Idaho College, Coeur d'Alene and Lake City high schools, and the city police department that church members will be staging 30-minute protests at each of the locations on the morning of Oct. 22.
They will be at CHS from 6:10 to 6:40 a.m., at LCHS from 7:10 to 7:40 a.m., and at NIC from 8 to 8:30 a.m.
"The main point is that we do not want to confront or engage with the WBC folks. They are looking for sensationalism, and I hope they are ignored," Bauman wrote.
The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations announced it will counter the church group's visit with a rally at the Human Rights Education Institute at 9 a.m.
The institute is next to City Park in downtown Coeur d'Alene.
In a press release, the task force denounced the WBC and its leader, Fred Phelps, and urged residents "to avoid any confrontation with the WBC demonstrators and rise above these scenes of hate-filled messages by attending the peaceful unity rally that will celebrate the dignity and value of our diverse American family."
Veterans, religious leaders, youth, educators, government officials, business and labor leaders, representatives from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, law enforcement and the minority communities will present statements during the rally.
"As human beings, we grow and our humanity becomes great when we support and love one another," Stewart said. "Anger and yelling decreases our humanity."
The WBC regularly stages protests at colleges, universities and schools throughout the nation, and has gained notoriety for picketing military funerals bearing signs stating "God hates America," and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."
The church will be before the U.S. Supreme Court today, arguing its right to picket military funerals under the First Amendment. The case involves Albert Snyder, the parent of a soldier killed in Iraq. Snyder's son's funeral was targeted by the WBC, and Snyder later sued the church for emotional distress. He won a multi-million dollar settlement in a lower court. The verdict was then overturned on appeal. The Supreme Court will now determine whether the content of the church's speech can be regulated by law, and if damages can be awarded for hurtful speech.
Telephone messages and e-mails sent by The Press to the Topeka, Kansas church, and the office of its attorney, Jonathan Phelps, were not returned.