Westboro Baptist Church Tuscaloosa protest

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(Gallery by Ben Flanagan | bflanaga@al.com)

When Westboro Baptist Church came to Tuscaloosa, they brought a boombox with them. Standing in front of Russell Hall, the dozen or so Kansans sang their own versions of pop songs, revised to condemn homosexuality, waved inflammatory signs and banners, and worked hard to be seen and heard for half an hour on a humid Tuscaloosa Saturday afternoon.

Across Hackberry Lane, in the area fenced off behind Gallalee Hall for counter protesters, nearly a hundred people stood with signs of their own, promoting acceptance and compassion. The group, several times larger than the picketers, shouted to be heard, chanting "Love not hate!" and "T-Town Strong!" at the picketers from Westboro.



[Click through our photo slideshow of the protest above. WARNING: Some images contain graphic language on various signage. View at your own discretion.]



A dozen motorcyclists made lazy circles around the protest area, stopping often at the light at the intersection of Hackberry and University Boulevard. Whenever they were at rest and near Russell Hall, the group made their engines roar to drown out anything Westboro members said in the din.

On the other side of University Boulevard, though, another group of people congregated and tried not to be heard at all, to let their actions speak for them. On the lawn of Canterbury Chapel, about 25 people stood in a circle, and for the 30 minutes that Westboro Baptist sang their songs and waved their signs, the group prayed silently.

"Westboro uses people's words against them, and turns their words back on them," Tyler Richards, an organizer of the event, said. "We can yell and scream all day, but Westboro is just going to yell and scream back louder. Our idea to be silent was just about being here and to be united in that silence and united in a spirit of community. We didn't need words to be unified."

Originally, more than 100 people agreed to go to the event, which was formed on Facebook and called the Silent Tide, but the counter protest was canceled, revived and relocated because of troubles getting permission from UA to assemble on campus. Despite the smaller than expected turnout, Richards said it was never about numbers. Instead, it was about the unity of Tuscaloosa.

"The spirit of what we wanted to do with this protest was accomplished," Richards said. "It was about unity, community, love. It was a sure understanding that we as a community and as a town, we know who we are, and we stand together."

Westboro Baptist Church pickets the University of Alabama 9 Gallery: Westboro Baptist Church pickets the University of Alabama

"I think the place to go from here is to encourage people to work in the community, to do more for each other and with each other. I don't think we should just stop now that they're out of town," Richards said. "We've created this strong bond of community, but we need to increase it and keep working toward it. Maybe the next step is advocacy for reaching out to all of our brothers and sisters who live in Tuscaloosa, and across the nation and across the world."

According to their website, the small group of Westboro members picketed on the UA campus Saturday "to remind them of the wrath of God that visited them two years ago," referring to the EF4 tornado that devastated the area on April 27, 2011. The picketers said the storms were the result of growing acceptance of homosexuality and support of gay marriage in the nation.

"That whirlwind came from God," their website said. "Praise His name for it, then fear and obey that God who is able to whip up a whirlwind on a dime!"