BELFAST
— A Maine high school student plans to press forward with his idea of a federal law banning protests at military funerals.
Seventeen-year-old Zach Parker learned during his senior history class project that about 40 states, including Maine, have limits on protests near funerals, and a 2006 law restricts protests near federal cemeteries. But he says he still wants a stronger law covering all 50 states.
The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church had threatened to demonstrate Wednesday night as Parker gave a presentation at Searsport Regional High School.
Church members often hold signs that say, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.” But they were no-shows.
A Westboro spokeswoman says the church is exercising its First Amendment Rights. Parker, himself a Baptist, says “they’re a bunch of wacks.”
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