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The Brock Beery Bill

By Jeff "Mario” Smith, Guerilla Reporter

March 27^th, 2006

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

 John 15:13 (KJV)

In an effort to shut down military funeral protests in Kentucky that have become the mission of a cult from Kansas, Governor Ernie Fletcher, yesterday, signed “The Brock Beery Bill”. This bill, which historically became law immediately upon its signing thanks to our Governor’s commitment and that of our General Assembly, but mostly due to the huge outcry from citizens, Veterans, activists, and families who serve, outlaws protesting of any kind at funerals, memorial services, and funeral processions.

As with all laws, in order to satisfy the “civil liberties types”, some concessions were made. We wanted the law to state that nowhere within sight or sound of a service could a protest take place. There is a 300 foot limitation in the law, but there are also some other good things written into this new Brock Beery Law.

The bill summary, SB93, introduced by Senator Tom Buford, reads, “Create a new section of KRS Chapter 525 to establish the crime of disorderly conduct in the first degree when a person engages in disorderly conduct at a funeral, burial, funeral home, funeral procession, or memorial service; establish disorderly conduct in the first degree as a Class A misdemeanor; amend KRS 525.060 to conform; create a new section of KRS Chapter 525 to establish the crime of disrupting meetings and processions in the first degree when a person disrupts a meeting or procession associated with a funeral, burial, or memorial service; amend KRS 525.150 to conform. The specifics of the bill, which is now law, can be found here: http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/record/06RS/SB93/HCS1.doc.

Governor Ernie Fletcher signed the bill in our presence yesterday around 2PM. The Kentucky Adjutant General suggested we name the bill "The Brock Beery Bill". How appropriate. SSG Beery's funeral will be the first one since the bill became law and therefore, the first funeral for a fallen military member whose dignity has been protected. Stand proud Kentucky. The people spoke up and we did the right thing, at the right time, in the right place, for the right reasons, our troops and their families.

Staff Sergeant Brock A. Beery, 30, of White House, Tenn., on his third tour of overseas duty, was killed Thursday when his armored vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device near Al Habbaniyah, 80 miles west of Baghdad. Beery was a member of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Armor, based in Bowling Green. He is survived by his wife, Sara, and a 7-year-old daughter. The funeral will be in Bowling Green on Friday morning at 10 AM. Patriot Guard Riders is currently in touch with the family to determine if our protective presence is desired.

Also in the Capitol Rotunda yesterday was Barbara Dieruff, mother of Lance Corporal Nicholas Dieruff, whom we lost in Iraq some time back. Barbara is a Gold Star Mother and a Blue Star Mother. It was Nicholas Dieruff's funeral in Lexington that first called my attention to this cult that protests our military funerals when an accomplice of theirs in Harrodsburg, KY said some slanderous things about LCPL Dieruff. We have been meeting this cult on the ground ever since.

"It's a hard thing to go to a man's funeral and pay your respects when you have people out there shouting obscenities," said Herman Griffin Jr., a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Herman is correct and is also a Task Force Omega of Kentucky member. It doesn’t take a mental heavyweight to know that a funeral is no place to make one’s political points, but Fred Phelps, the leader of the cult from Kansas that does all this despicable protesting, apparently missed that point. Of course, our own Democrat Party used Congressman Paul Welstone’s funeral and that of Coretta Scott King as sounding boards to make their political points so it appears the example of this despicable behavior had been set by our own liberals in Congress.

Task Force Omega of Kentucky worked very hard on this bill and it has been one of our highest priorities since New Years Day, the day after we protected the family of SFC John David Morton, who was killed in Afghanistan and leaves behind a beautiful young family and a whole community in Stanton, Kentucky that loved him dearly.

On that particular day, one of our members, a disabled Vietnam Veteran, was attacked by a cult member who paid the price for his stupidity. The cult packed up and left Stanton, Kentucky, in Powell County, after only standing there with their hateful signs for about five minutes, and it was reported that the fellow who attacked the Disabled Vietnam Veteran had a Coke can to his head to keep down the swelling. Good job Patriots! This cult got physical with the wrong bunch, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, but that is what these people from Kansas are about, everything that is wrong with America. They are representative of that wrong. They are also lucky that dedicated professional law enforcement was on the ground to protect them. This writer has been informed that there is an outstanding warrant for the arrest of these cult members in Powell County.

Present yesterday were at least 50 members of the Kentucky Army National Guard, who are some of those we worked so hard for in passing this important legislation. There was a two star general present right down to several privates. God bless these fine Americans. Also present in the rotunda besides Governor Ernie Fletcher, Senator Tom Buford, and several other legislators, was Task Force Omega of Kentucky, AMVETS Post 124, Patriot Guard Riders, American Legion Riders, Kentucky Motorcycle Association, Bopsters, Blue Star Mothers, Gold Star Mother Barbara Dieruff, and several Veterans of all ages.

Tamara “Tiny” Gilkerson and yours truly, on behalf of Task Force Omega of Kentucky, presented Senator Tom Buford with our “Outstanding Kentucky Legislator of the Year” Award for 2006. We surprised him with that.

It is a shame that we live in a time when people think that a family’s time of mourning is the time and place to make political statements. What ever happened to respect and dignity in America? Have the ACLU types got us in such a state of ”political correctness” that we cannot keep these things from happening? I think this time the ACLU did the right thing for a change and stayed out of this discussion, for the most part. We will see if they stay quiet or jump into the fray. I hope they don’t and I think they won’t because they are all about politics, and it is obvious that a very huge majority of Americans do not side with the civil liberties crowd on this issue. Twenty seven states, at this time, either have laws to stop this behavior, or have bills being considered in their legislatures. This is about respect and dignity, that apparently some Americans need to be re-schooled in.

It should be noted that this new law protects all funerals, memorial services, and funeral processions from protests, not just our beloved military. This is yet another sacrifice that our military families have made on behalf of the rest of us. We are so blessed with Great Americans. Salute!

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