My hometown of Marion, KS has a population of around 2,000 people. In a town this small, things don't get too exciting. However, recently Marion has been in the news. The husband of one of my sister's former classmates was recently arrested for stalking members of the Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps and his crew). Ryan Newell is a retired war vet whose time in the military was cut short when he suffered a severe accident over in Afghanistan and lost both of his legs. He's been in the news before when "Homes for Our Troops", a non-profit organization built a new handicap-accessible home for him and his family. The articles I've read have stated that Newell was arrested for following members of WBC while armed with an M4 military assault carbine, a .45-caliber Glock pistol, and a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson pistol in his car. Newell has been arrested and his bond has been set at half a million dollars.
Below are some articles about Newell:
War vet charged with stalking church that protests soldiers' funerals
Veteran charged with stalking protesters
Felony charge for vet accused of targeting Westboro
And now, members of Westboro are coming to my hometown this weekend to picket at 5 different churches in Marion....one of them being the church where I grew up. These people are sick. What bothers me the most about this is the fact that young children will be leaving Sunday School that day seeing people with signs that say "God hates fags", "Your pastor is a whore" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". It disgusts me.
Ryan Newell's community prepares for Westboro protest
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