a PGR question

[DirtyDan]

Hey guys

 I've seen we have a few PGR riders here. Got a question for you. I've read that the Westboro Baptist Church has harassed military funerals. I was wondering if they were still active and what other groups engage in similar behavior.

thanks in advance

Dan

[old2soon]

Don't remember his name nor will I try but since the  guy that started wbbc died they have slowed down a LOT. As I understand it the P G R came to be BECAUSE of wbbc. I do remember wbbc asked to not be protested during his funeral!  I would NEVER lower myself to their standards.  I have heard of some protest groups but not on the scale of organization that wbbc had. I've been on over 100 missions and have yet to endure a "protest". And IF we ever get "protested" ALL we are sposed to do is get between the "protesters" and the family-peacefully!  OR as I have seen in some videos-a LOT of M/Cs revving their engines to drown out the "protesters"!  RIDE SAFE.

[Oss]

Never seen a protest here with New York
I've only done four pgr missions to cemeteries and one highway interstate mission
You dont have to be ex.military to be pgr

[old2soon]

You are correctamundo Evan. Some of our most loyal Members are not Ex Military. A number of the people I ride with are retired from the work force and like me and others P G R "works" for us. Here in Missouri you can Feel the Patriotism and I'm sure of the feeling the Patriotism Anywhere the P G R Is.  I feel VERY Fortunate to be able to Ride and Represent the P G R. RIDE SAFE.

[Willow]

I have been to a mission that was protested by the WBC but that was many years ago and in their home town.  They have slowed down.

To answer your second question, Dan, there are no other groups that engage in similar behavior.

Historically some understanding of WBC will help.  The founder of the WBC was an attorney, later a disbarred attorney.  Some of His children are attorneys.  Protesting at soldiers' funerals was a late development.  The WBC was protesting for a lot of years at churches, public gatherings, and just on the sidewalk.  They made a fair amount of money from people who objected to their objections and stepped across the line of the law.  The want to present an image as if they are a group of people, a church, of similar beliefs but they are actually made up almost entirely of family members of the now deceased founding lawyer.

The forming of the Patriot Guard Riders is the best thing that the WBC ever brought about.    

[czuch]

All true.
They would sue you into the dirt for violating their "right" to protest and heaven help you if they were assaulted.
They were at 1 I rode for. It was awesome. 4 people and 3 kids they dragged along.  Poor kids.
 The protest was down the street and the police, not thrilled, were there to protect them.
Everybody passed us waving and thumbs up.
Passed them with fingers flying and even a drink tossed.
Then the procession of loud pipes. It was hilarious.
The Father of the Veteran was also riding that day on his son's bike.
Somehow, the dignity wasn't compromised and the family said their son would have loved it.
Support the PGR. Go on a ride.

[Hoser]

I have been to a mission that was protested by the WBC but that was many years ago and in their home town.  They have slowed down.

To answer your second question, Dan, there are no other groups that engage in similar behavior.

Historically some understanding of WBC will help.  The founder of the WBC was an attorney, later a disbarred attorney.  Some of His children are attorneys.  Protesting at soldiers' funerals was a late development.  The WBC was protesting for a lot of years at churches, public gatherings, and just on the sidewalk.  They made a fair amount of money from people who objected to their objections and stepped across the line of the law.  The want to present an image as if they are a group of people, a church, of similar beliefs but they are actually made up almost entirely of family members of the now deceased founding lawyer.

The forming of the Patriot Guard Riders is the best thing that the WBC ever brought about.    

If I remember correctly, that was the day I first met Willow in Topeka and found out about the VRCC.As I had just bought my Valk I lived happily ever after.  Hoser  

[old2soon]

All true.
They would sue you into the dirt for violating their "right" to protest and heaven help you if they were assaulted.
They were at 1 I rode for. It was awesome. 4 people and 3 kids they dragged along.  Poor kids.
 The protest was down the street and the police, not thrilled, were there to protect them.
Everybody passed us waving and thumbs up.
Passed them with fingers flying and even a drink tossed.
Then the procession of loud pipes. It was hilarious.
The Father of the Veteran was also riding that day on his son's bike.
Somehow, the dignity wasn't compromised and the family said their son would have loved it.
Support the PGR. Go on a ride.

       AHHHH YUPP! Shameless plug here!   The P G R is FREE to join. You can either show up or not. BUT be warned-once you make that first mission-It's like our Valkyries-you are HOOKED.   STRICTLY volunteer. First time I saw The Flag Line and I was part of The Flag Line and THEN you hear TAPS and the volleys at the cemetery-well to this day can't keep my eyes dry while TAPS is rendered. In my particular area we are getting a lot of Sand Box Veterans that ARE stepping up.   Had a WWII Veteran in a wheelchair last summer told me he wished he could still ride! The part that moves me the most is when Family Members-Wife or Mother or Father take time from their grief and shake hands with us and tell us so and so would have Loved this! Also when I go thru a L E O protected intersection and they are outside of their squad and rendering and holding a hand salute! P G R is THE most important thing I do on my Motorcycle. RIDE SAFE.

[Moonshot_1]

Hey guys

 I've seen we have a few PGR riders here. Got a question for you. I've read that the Westboro Baptist Church has harassed military funerals. I was wondering if they were still active and what other groups engage in similar behavior.

thanks in advance

Dan

Somehow I wound up being a senior Ride Captain here in Iowa a few years ago.
Been with the PGR about 10 years now this May.

Run into the WBC a few times.
Early on it was absolutely atrocious. Then laws were passed that kept them at bay and that helped, some.
Now that the Phelps patriarch has passed, they have gotten even more irrelevant. As I understand it, they have had internal family issues and a fair number have disowned the family and their activities.
Haven't seen them in these parts for a couple years at least.
Their beef was over homosexuality. The connection to the military funerals was that the US supports the lifestyle and the military is part of the US. Pretty convoluted but effective.

As I understand it, what they would do here is get a permit to protest. If they got assaulted or harassed, they would take the municipality that issued the permit to court as the permit was supposed to allow them to protest and the municipality has the obligation to protect them. Deep pocket. This as well as suing the assaulting party.

Not sure how the laws read in the various states, but here in Iowa the municipality issuing the permit can require the protesters to protest in a specific area. On more than a couple occasions on the missions I attended, they got put near or next to the sewer lagoons.

I concur with Willow that the PGR was the best thing to come out of the WBC efforts.
I do not know of any other organization that does anything like what the WBC has done in regard to KIA funerals.

It has been an HONOR to be a part of the PGR.

 

 

[Big Rig]

Willow, there is a second group, Warriors Watch. Very similar to PGR. I am a member of both these organizations. Living an hour from Dover AFB, I have had the priviledge to escort several American Hereos.      

never had any protesters.

[Willow]

Willow, there is a second group, Warriors Watch. Very similar to PGR. I am a member of both these organizations. Living an hour from Dover AFB, I have had the priviledge to escort several American Hereos.      

never had any protesters. 

It's good another group is doing what PGR does but the question was whether there were other groups with behavior similar to that of WBC.