Patriot Guard Riders honor ‘one of our comrades’

They came to pay tribute to a fallen Marine.

On Saturday, more than 100 members of the Patriot Guard Riders stood in silence outside Ferris High School, holding up flags in honor of Cpl. Darrel James Morris.

“When one of our comrades dies in battle, we’re there for them,” said Mike Lovas, of Spokane, one of the local organizers of the Patriot Guard Riders. “We’re there for our American heroes.”

Sixty-one service members from Washington state have died in Iraq since the war began. Morris is one of about a dozen from the East Side.

Established in 2005, the Patriot Guard Riders has a membership of more than 75,000 people nationwide. Their mission is twofold: to attend the funeral services of service people who have died as invited guests and to shield the mourning family and friends from protesters.

Earlier in the week, a Kansas-based group known for picketing military funerals as a way to draw publicity for its anti-gay cause had threatened to disrupt Morris’ memorial service. The group’s actions in the past prompted Gov. Chris Gregoire on Friday to sign “the Washington Rest in Peace Act,” which bans “tumultuous conduct” and other disruptions within 500 feet of funerals.

The anti-gay protesters never showed up Saturday. But the Patriot Guard Riders were still prepared.

The riders met at the Flying J Truck Stop in Spokane Valley early Saturday for a rally and arrived at Ferris High School more than an hour before the service. There, they created a flag line from the school’s parking lot all the way to the entrance of the auditorium, where the service was held. About 20 members of the group also escorted Morris’ remains from the Spokane International Airport to the funeral home on Tuesday night.

Chris Peterson, the Washington ride captain, said Saturday’s contingent in Spokane was the largest Patriot Guard showing so far in the state. “We really just came out to honor the fallen troops,” said Peterson, a Gulf War veteran. “Today’s event is really about Cpl. Morris.”

If protesters had shown up, the Patriot Guard Riders would have used a barrier of flags to protect family members from the negative messages, Peterson said.

The Patriot Guard Riders was founded in August 2005 by the American Legion Riders in Kansas. After hearing that a military funeral had been disturbed by religious zealots, the riders decided to take action. Their efforts to combat the protestors, known as the Westboro Baptist Church, have since grown to include motorcyclists and others throughout the country.

“We have one thing in common besides motorcycles,” according to the Patriot Guard Riders’ mission statement. “We have an unwavering respect for those who risk their very lives for America’s freedom and security.”

Members don’t have to be veterans, according to Lovas. Nor do they have to ride motorcycles. They simply have to be willing to support grieving families while honoring the fallen service people.

Lovas, who served as a Marine in the late ‘60s, wore a black leather jacket with the Marine Corps emblem Saturday. He and many others wiped tears from their eyes. A few wore sunglasses.

“This is the most meaningful work that I do,” he said.

Several hundred feet away, about a dozen people stood with signs in support of troops and also of Morris. They said they came in case Westboro supporters showed. “I don’t like how they’re dragging God’s name through the mud,” said Drew Sweatte, a Spokane Valley resident who organized the small gathering. “We’re here to send a message that is much different than that.”

Spokane Police Cpl. Tom Lee said Westboro members have a history of not showing up at a funeral after telling the media they would. “They accomplished their goal of publicity without even gathering here,” Lee said. More than a dozen police and state troopers were at the event but kept a low profile.

Lee said they were ready to enforce the “Washington Rest in Peace Act,” which makes it a misdemeanor to fight, engage in tumultuous conduct or make unreasonable noise within 500 feet of a funeral, burial or memorial service. At least 28 other states, starting with Kansas, have passed similar laws aimed at stopping the Westboro Baptist Church’s pickets.