We can't stop them from saying they will do that, but we can choose to ignore them and stop giving them the attention they hope to get from their empty threat.

Speaking of trolls, I feel like Slog and other blogs are always trolled anytime they report on WBC. They're notorious for not showing up. Seriously, can you remember the last time they showed up on the news for picketing a major funeral? Were they at Newtown, like they said they would be?

Sue them -- An old fashioned response that works -- for emotional distress and sue them for every cent they have and the shirts off their backs.

They probably won't show up. They get their hateful message across just by threatening.

They threaten and bluster far more than they do. I'm not saying that they should be utterly ignored. Dedicated activists like the Patriot Guard or GLBT organizations should keep tabs on their whereabouts to organize shield protests locally in order to block them from interferring with the funeral. However media should stay away. Don't mention their tweets, don't broadcast that "they plan" to protest here or there, and if they do actually show up, don't mention their presence unless it's absolutely neccesary. This goes doubly for national news sources. Small local news sources can perhaps justify a small amount of coverage before a funeral in order to get the word out on shield-protests.

They do this because they know they are guaranteed attention. Starve them of it.

WBC is so yesterday. Paul, please leave Seattle, go back to the hole where you have loved ones, and let this place air out from the wet farts you leave everyday.

@ 5, the attention now comes in the form of these news reports.

Paul, my personal challenge to you is for you to research all the ACTUAL times WBC has shown up picketing a funeral - ANYONE's funeral - in the past year, since April 16, 2012. I don't have access to Lexis Nexus, so I can't do it myself.

Anyway, if you see that they have, in fact, appeared at any one of the high profile memorials they say they'll picket - just one - I'll admit that I'm wrong. Because I'm going to state right now that they never show up anymore, and have not for a long time.

The point? If they're not actually showing up, then the media SHOULD ignore them now. Do not report on their threats. At this point, they only announce their plans because the attention and outrage they get satisfies them. They're trolling the media, and it's time that the media stops playing along.

Saying that you can't ignore their physical presence at a funeral does not justify your decision to post about their press release.

Old and incomplete reporting, Paul. I thought you were more thorough than this as a journalist. Try googling "WBC honor guard blockade" sometime.

Somebody will let the Patriot Guard know. They will show up. WBC will be blocked again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Gua… and
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/19…

If not them, then many other groups have successfully blocked WBC like Texas A&M students.

I deeply wish these Amalekites death, but for now let's just blot them out Purim-style, by making it impossible for them to be seen or heard.

If we should ignore these trolls, then lead by example and stop posting articles.

@ 11 send 'em to bed without their passover plate. (What can I say, I'm a Seder-masochist)

If you have nothing of value to add, why don't you just post their press release?

You are already doing them a favor just by mentioning them.

Can't we all just assume that with any national tragedy that they will threaten to protest and just not post or tweet about it. Anonymous was retweeting this shit yesterday and it just gives WBC what it wants: attention.

@7, I would have been so disappointed not to see you here given the post headline.

This will play out exactly like their other protests have played out. A group will get together to silently counter-protest and block any funeral-goers views of those disgusting signs. I just can't be outraged at them anymore.

I don't care if they show or not, they've made the threat.

Get em Anonymous STOMP EM STOMP EM!

@8 is right. They make announcements and typically don't show up. With high-profile defections and effective strategies to block their ability to disrupt events, it seems that they are mostly issuing press releases. There's a running narrative that perhaps the entire goal of the organization was to sue police departments, cities, and counter-protesters to make money. I don't know if it's fully plausible given the stories that people (including relatives of the founder) who have left the group have said. But they're not really worth the attention now unless they do show up, which seems rare.

Yes, give them silence. We will win through attrition. They are as good as finished.

In the meantime a pastor at our own local Mars Hill said the bombing was vengeance from his God.

I really wish there was a Slog post of outrage about THAT. I don't think many of their own members even pay attention to the outrageous theology they support. I'd stop losing friends to that cult if that kind of offensiveness was in the public knowledge.

1. I agree with the majority of posters. Let's not give them the free press.

2. I would love for them to show up here in MA. A Westboro Baptist Bashing would get all us Massholes really psyched for the next Sox game. And they would get stomped into the fucking ground.

On with the dogpile.

Stop republishing their press releases. We give them countless millions of dollars of free press every year. We empower them to hurt others. These stories do nothing but help them reach their goals of spreading their message.

Arrange to have a hose on hand, and assign someone to spray them down.