Patriot Guard Riders Coming to SFC Elwell's Funeral

The Patriot Guard Riders, a group that attends funerals for fallen soldiers at the request of their families, will be in attendance this Sunday for services honoring Sergeant First Class Kenneth B. Elwell at .

The Riders’ mission is two fold, according to the group’s website. First, they aim to show their "sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families and their communities.” The second part of the mission is to “shield the mourning family and their friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.”

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, the Kansas-based church known for protesting homosexuality at military funerals, say they have plans to picket at St. Andrew’s during Elwell’s memorial services.

Pennsylvania State Law prohibits demonstrators to come within 500 feet of any military funeral, memorial service, or procession one hour before or after the event.

Elwell, a resident of Northampton Township and graduate of Council Rock High School North, died in Afghanistan on July 17. He was married to Kristen A. Mirabella Elwell and had two children, Elise and Nickolas.

Tim Young, Assistant State Captain for the Patriot Guard Riders, on Monday confirmed that the group would be present.

“We will be there to show our honor, respect and admiration for Sergeant First Class Elwell and his family,” Young said.

While Young said he is aware of Westboro Baptist Church’s plans, he encourages the public to ignore their threats to protest.

“They make a living preying on the weak and suffering during times of stress and emotional turmoil,” Young said. “They fill peoples minds with their own ideas of religion and very twisted ideas of what religion should be in the hopes of causing some type of confrontation, which could lead to a law suit by them against others in order to get a monetary payday."

Young said he and his group will be in attendance Sunday focused on what’s important: paying tribue to Elwell.

“This funeral is about a soldier who sacrificed his all for us so we can enjoy our lives and freedoms, nothing more and nothing less. That is the point and the importance of this memorial service and why the Patriot Guard will be there, standing tall, silent and proud,” he said.

Westboro Baptist Church issued a press release on July 30 regarding the protest. They plan to begin picketing at 5:15 p.m.

 “God hates America and is killing our troops in his wrath,” the press release said. “Military funerals have become pagan orgies of idolatrous blasphemy, where they pray to the dunghill gods of sodom and play taps to a fallen fool."

Elwell was serving in the Kandahar province when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device, according to the Department of Defense.

He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division of Fort Wainwright, Alaska. They were participating in Operation Enduring Freedom at the time of attack.

The Westboro Baptist Church press release goes on to say that Elwell gave his life “for the Constitutional right of WBC to warn America. To deny us our First Amendment rights is to declare to the world that these soldiers died in vain, and that America is a nation of sodomite hypocrites.”

According to the release, Westboro Baptist Church will also protest a memorial service for Elwell scheduled on Aug. 10 at Arlington National Cemetery.