Hundreds gather to honor fallen lesbian service member, counter WBC protest
Tue. October 16, 2012 10:05 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
army staff sgt. donna r. johnson
photo credit // the american military partner assoc.
Video: Westboro Baptist Church met with large counter-protest
Raeford, NC -
Hundreds of people gathered over the weekend in North Carolina to honor 29-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Donna Johnson.
Johnson was among 14 people killed earlier this month in a suicide bomber attack in Afghanistan. She is survived by her wife Tracy Dice, also a member of the military.
This was the second combat tour for Johnson, who served in Iraq in 2007-2008 after joining the National Guard in 2006. Her decorations include the Combat Action Badge, Iraq Campaign Medal and the Army Commendation Medal.
Johnson was buried with full military honors.
Outside the church, a crowd of over a hundred people holding U.S. flags gathered to form a human shield against a protest from Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka-based hate church made up mostly of Fred Phelps' immediate family.
At one point a Navy SEAL in the crowd rushed a WBC member attempting to stomp on the American flag. No arrests were made.
(View the YouTube video below by Chris Henson)
Westboro Baptist Church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is known for picketing military funerals nationwide in protest of what it calls the country's tolerance of homosexuality.
The church is monitored by the Anti-Defamation League and is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Johnson was among 14 people killed earlier this month in a suicide bomber attack in Afghanistan. She is survived by her wife Tracy Dice, also a member of the military.
This was the second combat tour for Johnson, who served in Iraq in 2007-2008 after joining the National Guard in 2006. Her decorations include the Combat Action Badge, Iraq Campaign Medal and the Army Commendation Medal.
Johnson was buried with full military honors.
Outside the church, a crowd of over a hundred people holding U.S. flags gathered to form a human shield against a protest from Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka-based hate church made up mostly of Fred Phelps' immediate family.
At one point a Navy SEAL in the crowd rushed a WBC member attempting to stomp on the American flag. No arrests were made.
(View the YouTube video below by Chris Henson)
Westboro Baptist Church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is known for picketing military funerals nationwide in protest of what it calls the country's tolerance of homosexuality.
The church is monitored by the Anti-Defamation League and is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.