Carroll stressed the effectiveness of a unified response.
“It’s important we’re all on the same page,” Carroll said.
Susan Anderson, vice mayor of Blacksburg and a Tech mathematics professor, said the outcry brought back memories of a Ku Klux Klan march in the early 1990s.
The group demonstrated in the streets of downtown Blacksburg on Jan. 21, 1991, coinciding with the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
A writer from the Los Angeles Times covered the demonstration, writing, “about 500 people taunted 30 KKK members who marched in Blacksburg surrounded by more than 200 police officers.”
Anderson was among those in attendance, and took pictures during the protest.
“Our community very clearly showed the KKK that we are a very tolerant community, that we don’t have the same values,” Anderson said. “To the best of my knowledge they haven’t marched anywhere in the region since.”
Anderson complimented Tech students, saying she was “impressed” by the tone of the counter-protest.
“It’s been very positive, very upbeat in relation to this,” Anderson said. “I haven’t seen anger or animosity.”
The Westboro Baptist Church’s downtown Blacksburg protest will focus predominantly on Morgan Harrington. The 20-year-old education major was found dead in late January after going missing in October during a Metallica concert in Charlottesville, Va.
Morgan’s parents, Dan and Gil Harrington, issued an e-mail statement yesterday morning denouncing the protest, labeling WBC as “a group of domestic terrorists.”
“Yes there is evil in the world and this latest strike from it is painful and disturbing, but nothing compared to the death blow we have just survived,” Dan and Gil wrote. The pair continued, writing that they would not let “this petty evil topple us.”
“We will not be diverted from these tasks we have taken on in Morgan’s honor,” the Harringtons said. “We will not allow Morgan’s killer to erase her from the world nor these petty thugs to poison her legacy.”
The WBC has previously agreed to discontinue protests relating to the April 16, 2007 campus shootings.
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A version of this article appeared in the Apr 2 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 31 Comments Write a letter to the editor
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“about 500 people taunted 30 KKK members.â€Â
“Our community very clearly showed the KKK that we are a very tolerant community...â€Â
When I think of "tolerance" taunting is exactly what comes to mind. @@
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this same ''church'' and i use that term loosely was gonna protest little caylee anthony's memorial i do not agree with the anthony's but that is not right and this is just plain wrong what are they protesting anyway
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Any response will still bring publicity to the group.
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This is what we are about?
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It's probably best to just ignore these people. It's just what they want, a counter protest. Don't feed the trolls.
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He would probably agree (Luke 23:34), although we can't all be like him. I have no doubt they would be heckling him at the Crucifixion. He was Jewish after all...
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I've always suspected that crazy religious group was led by a government operative. When I look at Pat Robertson claiming that Katrina was punishment for the US tolerating abortions, and this creep saying sexual predators and war deaths are God's punishment for tolerating homosexuals, I have to suspect that someone is writing their scripts to support the right-wing agenda.
Take Katrina, for example. Even if we set the whole debate over faulty repairs to the dam aside, if any natural disasters really were God's way of punishing the US for something, what would that something be? Gays? Abortions? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! It would be for our INVASION of other countries, particularly a biblical area like Iraq. What, God doesn't notice when you bomb people to death? GET REAL!
All I see when I hear people trying to spin natural disasters into Republican talking points and wedge issues is a natural born FED. Either that or he's mentally ill. Here's more proof -- after they harassed a Marine's family at the dead soldier's funeral, a judge said that the Marine's family had to pay their legal costs. Boiled down to one word again... FEDS.
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What's the point then if we're at the GLC if you're not there protesting at them it's a waste of time. Well it's already a waste of time but this way is even more so. If you're going to do it do it right or don't bother. This paternalist attitude the administration has shown towards us is sickening.
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If they were real Christians, they would be down on their knees praying for the Harringtons and other victims, not adding to their pain. These people are wicked creatures, more of the devil than Jesus, although I don't mean to assert that Satan is quite that evil because I'm honestly not sure.
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Someone should follow Jason Connell's example of how to turn such hate into something positive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7Of_2ykZpQ
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Epic win video. I'll be at Tech's Relay for Life.
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This is easily the best way to counter the protests, and a great way to create something positive from their useless hate.
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That idea is bad @$$!!!
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Does anyone else remember Teg Haggard? The pastor leading the anti-gay protest group looks so effeminate that you could put him in a dress. I have to wonder if this is all another stunt by a self-hating gay man.
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This is why there should be concealed carry.
Just kidding. =)
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Um, there IS concealed carry.
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Reading this article reminds me of their attempt to protest the shooting of April 16th. The range of emotions I felt after April 16th was blinding. But one that stuck out was the rage that overwhelmed me after reading of the WBC's intent to protest the funerals of our lost brothers and sisters. My friends and I quietly and franticly organized counter-protest all over the east coast to stop them from interfering with the family’s ability to grieve our fallen brothers and sister. Lucky for us an unselfish radio man with no association with Virginia Tech took the brunt of the WBC evil away from our community and we did not have to confront them. We were ready to stand as one united front against an evil force encroaching on the memory of the ones we lost.
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They are protesting April 16th this time too. So it says on their website. Not just Morgan Harrington.
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Yes, I remember this. It was Mike Gallagher and he allowed them to be on his show for an hour if they agreed not to come to Tech. I actually got thru to his program and was able to thank him on the phone.
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(CONTINUED FROM LAST COMMENT)
It is time for the Virginia Tech community to stand as one again. The WBC has been waiting for 3 years to pollute our community with their evil views. We cannot allow this! Listen to Morgan’s parents. There request is the right way to protest, peacefully. I believe the entire Virginia Tech community is behind this counter-protest, whether they know it or not. Those students and community members that will be there are representing all of us. It would be so powerful to see downtown Blacksburg filled with candle lights and silence. In the middle the WBC is yelling obscure in relativities, being fooled by the youth of a college community, thinking that they can break our strength by attacking the memory of one that we lost. I hope that you are strong enough to quietly and proudly honor Morgan Harrington. I will be thinking about you and praying for you to have strength on April 9th.
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This article is false ... no one from our committee boards have said ANYTHING about moving the event. What would the purpose be this late in the game? This goes beyond just VT Students, people are coming from out of town. People want to go protest the WBC regardless of whether or not "ignoring them" is the best option. Personally, I just want to make sure that everything on our side is in organized and orderly so we don't get sued. Furthermore, we ARE fundraising with donations going to the LGBTA, Hillel, 4/16 Memorial Fund, etc.
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Why can't we just ignore these people? I specifically don't like the way our student government president and other "student leaders" are handling this. I heard from a boy who goes to college in Florida and he says his school protested back which gave the WBC their publicity they wanted, and a few students ended up with assault charges.
The worst thing you could possibly do in this situation is to "protest" back. Show some HOKIE PRIDE and let's continue our lives without them. I'll be at Relay For Life raising money to help cure cancer, while living out the true meaning behind our university... "That I May Serve".
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Bryan, we are having a positive rally and using this opportunity to raise money for important causes. Because they are in such a high traffic area, my biggest fear is students/faculty/community members will be coerced into seeing them. We want to show the Hokie spirit, and really what the community is all about. When I held the meeting last Saturday, I just acted as a facilitator to the groups' wants and needs.
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That being said, a majority of students have expressed a desire to actively protest. Also, there are a number of concerned supporters and alumni travelling to do just that. I think we are showing Hokie Pride by standing together and having the backs of the groups the WBC protest and raising funds to support these groups. Regardless of what "official" action we take, people will go out there and if your going to cite "Ut Prosim" then I'll be doing both. By day I'll be serving our students by mediating between the police and protest to prevent lawsuits and altercations and by night, I'll be downtown continuing to raise money for Relay.
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They are expressing a desire to protest after student leaders expressed the idea of leading it. I love the idea of fundraising at the "counter-protest", but wouldn't it be just as effective to totally ignore them? After all, it wouldn't be too hard to stay away from them when there will be thousands of people at a giant party on the Drillfield.
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I'd agree with you BUT our group met after the formation of 5 facebook events, and 2 facebook groups. AFTER they had reached ~400 attendees and one group had even 1700. Because there is a need for organization. Someone needs to apply for permits, coordinate with the Police Department, spread word and work with the media to minimize their exposure.
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It doesn't matter where they move the counter- protest to, I am going to be protesting right across from the WBC so they know I am there. How can a counter-protest be effective if you aren't even in the same area as the actual protest?
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My point wasn't about HOW to "counter-protest", it was WHY would we.
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I understand Bryan. I was just making my feelings known about the fact that they want to protest away from the protest. As I said, I along with several others, plan to be right across from the WBC the entire time they are in Blacksburg..
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(I don't know if you have to delete posts like this but I just have to get it off my chest.)
A protest where the protestors are separated from the demonstrators is not a protest but a retreat.
You are scared of Phelps getting media attention!? (Insert inappropriate word here) P.L.E.Z.!
Blacksburg has some very timid people at its helm indeed. For shame! Stand up for God's sake. Are you going to let this man insult the vulnerable members of society and just pat them on the head later as consolation?
If you care about your community you will not shy away from this motley crew of fools; you will meet them in the street.
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I'm still waiting for Ed Spencer or whoever to say "April Fools!". Who's ever heard of a counter-protest away from the actual protest. His email might as well have said: "We recommend students to counter-protest in the privacy of their dorm rooms to insure student safety"
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