Hundreds Gather in Missouri Town to Block Westboro Baptist Protest at Soldier's Funeral

You may recall that the Supreme Court recently heard arguments in a case involving the Westboro Baptist Church which often turns up to protest at the funerals of U.S. soldiers. Some how this ties into their opposition to gays.

At the time, Glenn Beck and Pat Gray engaged in spirited radio debate on the merits of the case. You can review that here.

Glenn argued that free speech rights militate that Westboro Baptist have the right to demonstrate regardless of how despicable their tactics. Glenn suggested that citizens take up action to counter-protest Westboro Baptist.  There may be no direct connection to Glenn's suggestion -- but this weekend that is exactly what happened.

People in Weston, Missouri banded together on Saturday. They wanted to protect loved ones who were saying goodbye to a fallen soldier. They stood up to members of the Westboro Baptist Church who planned to protest at Sgt. First Class C.J. Sadell's funeral.

Sadell died October 24 from injuries he suffered in a surprise attack in Afghanistan.

On Saturday, there was quite a turnout of people who wanted to keep the protesters away from the funeral.

"I'd say probably half the people in Weston are here," said Eric Moser, Marine Corp veteran.

Weston has less than 2,000 residents, but hundreds of people showed up to support the family of First Sgt. Sadell.