The Huffington Post website reports today (July 23, 2012) that a planned protest by the Westboro Baptist Church was overshadowed on July 21 when thousands of supporters gathered at the funeral of a fallen soldier to block the radical church's effort.
Thousands of people in red shirts formed a "human wall" around the Columbia, Missouri church where 21-year-old Army Specialist Sterling Wyatt's funeral was held. Wyatt was killed in Afghanistan earlier this month.
Westboro Baptist Church -- an independent Kansas-based church known for its extreme ideology and widely condemned demonstrations -- had indicated plans to picket the funeral.
When Tori Smith -- an acquaintance of Wyatt's -- got wind of the protest plans, she decided to organize a small group of supporters to counteract the church's negative actions. Word of Smith's plans spread quickly, drawing thousands to the church last Saturday morning.
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