“So many people have died in defense of that flag, I don’t care who you are, you are not going to disrespect the flag. And if I have to go to jail to defend that flag, I’m going to do it.” – Richard Pierce

Amen!

Via Delaware Online:

Richard Pierce said he attended a counter-protest Saturday expecting that all would remain peaceful when members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketed former Attorney General Beau Biden’s funeral in Wilmington.

But when the 64-year-old former Marine and Vietnam veteran saw one of the Westboro protesters dragging and stepping on the American flag, Pierce said something inside of him “snapped.”

“It was not my intention to cause a problem,” Pierce told The News Journal. “However, when I saw the young lady walking across the highway, dragging our flag under her feet, I lost my temper and the only way that I could demonstrate that is spill my coffee on them.”

Pierce was one of about 300 people who were counter-protesting three members of the Topeka, Kansas, church known for picketing soldiers’ funerals as well as for its harsh anti-homosexual beliefs and the crude signs its members carry at frequent protests.

Saturday’s picket by the group ended shortly after 10 a.m., after the presidential motorcade passed by on its way to Biden’s funeral Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church.

But as Westboro members were escorted to their car, parked in the 1200 block of N. Du Pont St., Pierce walked up to them holding a cup of coffee he had purchased at a Prices Corner McDonald’s earlier in the morning.

Then as the women placed their signs into their car, Pierce tossed the coffee at them, striking two of them.

Pierce, of the Pike Creek area, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. He has a hearing in Court of Common Pleas on July 20.

While the courts have allowed protesters to disrespect the flag, Pierce said it still angers him.

“So many people have died in defense of that flag,” he said. “I don’t care who you are, you are not going to disrespect the flag. And if I have to go to jail to defend that flag, I’m going to do it.

Pierce, a registered Republican, said he’d never voted for either Biden. But after reading about the father-son bond, he said he wanted to make sure nothing went wrong.

“I just wanted to make sure that they minded their manners and behaved themselves,” he said.