A member of an
antigay Kansas group that has drawn criticism for
protesting at soldiers' funerals was charged Thursday with
misdemeanors after her son stomped on a U.S. flag
during a demonstration last month in Bellevue, Neb.
Shirley
Phelps-Roper, 49, of Topeka, Kan., was charged with
negligent child abuse, contributing to the delinquency
of a minor, flag mutilation, and disturbing the peace.
''I have not
failed to do my duty to my children, to my God, or to my
fellow countrymen, and I take my job dead serious,''
Phelps-Roper said Thursday. She said Sarpy County
prosecutor Lee Polikov ''has pointed the big guns of
government at my liberty and at my children.''
Polikov did not
immediately respond to a message left Thursday
afternoon.
Phelps-Roper is a
member of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka and the
daughter of the church's founder, the Reverend Fred Phelps.
For years church members have protested at funerals of
gay people who have died of AIDS complications or as a
result of antigay violence, including the funeral of
murder victim Matthew Shepard, with signs asserting the
deceased will go to hell for being gay. Westboro
members are protesting at military funerals
because they claim U.S. soldiers' deaths are God's
punishment for the nation's acceptance of gays and
lesbians.
The American
Civil Liberties Union will likely represent Phelps-Roper but
was waiting for official approval from its board, said
Laurel Marsh, executive director of ACLU Nebraska.
Phelps-Roper
acknowledged that she allowed her 10-year-old son, Jonah, to
stand on the flag. She said the act qualifies as freedom of
expression, and she promised to challenge the
constitutionality of the flag mutilation charge. She
also said that the U.S. Supreme Court has struck
down laws forbidding flag desecration.
Nebraska's flag
law defines flag mutilation as when a ''person
intentionally casts contempt or ridicule upon a flag by
mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning, or trampling
upon such flag.''
The June 5
funeral in Bellevue was for Nebraska Army National Guard
specialist William ''Bill'' Bailey, who was killed May 25
when an explosive device struck his vehicle in Iraq.
(Oskar Garcia, AP)