First of all, I’ve tried really hard not to give the famous Topeka group of hateful morons any press online on our site. Sure, every other media outlet in town has jumped on every update, whether they’re coming or not coming, giving those idiots another mention, another batch of hits on their website, and we just don’t want to participate here at the Weekly.

We’re cheered by the groups that have organized to try to block their presence and we were happy to post that the Arizona Legislature passed a bill to keep them at least three hundred feet away from funerals. Still, looking at my own Facebook feed, everyone wants to know if they’re coming and where, so we want to keep people informed. It’s a icky balance.

Why anyone agreed to give them airtime, I have no idea, but radio stations in Phoenix and Toronto have agreed to give them an opportunity to spread their hateful, ridiculous views in exchange to keep them away from Christina Green’s memorial service tomorrow. Possibly not a great idea to set concessions with the group as an example, but that’s not my call.

UPDATE: Conservative radio host Mike Gallagher is giving the hatemongers a nationally syndicated audience, so they’ve announced they’re not coming at all, although I’m not sure they ever were to begin with which makes me wonder what they’ll get from the media the next time something ugly happens and they make the same threat, but whatever. As far as I can tell, Gallagher’s not on the air in Tucson, so that’s just as well.

The bad news is that they’re still coming on Friday to protest Judge John Roll’s funeral, picket the Safeway at Ina and Oracle, and for some reason, Tucson High. So, there you go: if you want to make things difficult for them, that’s where to go. Just be as nice as possible. They want to drag people into their depths of hell, fueled by hate. Don’t give in to what they want.

What we won’t be doing at the Weekly: mentioning the group’s name again, sending a photographer to any of their events, or covering their protests in any way. It’s not news. They have absolutely nothing of value to say. Period.

This article appears in Jan 13-19, 2011.

The editor of the Tucson Weekly. I have no idea how I got here.

6 replies on “UPDATED: Topeka Hate Group Skipping Tucson Entirely, Publicity Ransom Paid”

  1. If anyone goes to counterprotest these people PLEASE keep in mind that they thrive on confrontations. They’re all lawyers (or at least some of them are) and, one way they make their money is to sue people who threaten or physically accost them. PLEASE keep it peaceful.

  2. Also probably worth noting: counter-protests to They Who Must Not Be Named within 300 feet of any funerals could be considered illegal under the new law. So, probably best not to counter-protest any funeral protests in the first place.

  3. I commend the sacrifice of those stations and their listeners who are in a different way, placing themselves between the bad guys and the innocent.

  4. STOP DELETE DO-OVER!!! I just read the Topeka newspaper coverage looked at one of the radio station websites linked there, their talk show guy is as freaking insane as they are.

  5. I used to live just a few blocks away from Fred and his family of grifters. I applaud TW’s desire to not give them any more press. That is what they thrive on. People in Topeka have found that the best way to get rid of them is to ridicule them or steal their thunder by staging some kind of goofy alternative protest. Counter protests just seem to spur them on. So, trying to counter protest for peace and love or to try to convince them that “God is Love” would be fruitless. However, a completely alternative “protest” with a bunch of grown men wearing diapers carrying signs about the evils of diaper-rash will have them heading for their mini-vans in a heartbeat. Why? Because the diaper-clad men will get the most attention. Honest! I saw it happen once in front of Washburn University one day.

    So, the best way to get rid of “They Who Must Not Be Named” (I love that) is to either ignore them or make sure that someone else will get more attention. No news station should point a single camera at them. No one should take pictures. If you talk to them at all, ask them ridiculous questions for which there are no answers or which they would be embarrassed to answer either way. Don’t try to talk some sense into them. They have to know what they are doing is wrong. They don’t care. It is how they earn a living. Don’t give them the satisfaction.

  6. These people just want to make their group known to express that they are great and they can do anything.

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