Westboro Baptist Church, notorious for its hard-line anti-gay stance and its practice of protesting at military funerals, has announced plans to come to Bowling Green to protest outside the funeral of Sgt. Adam Kohlhaas.

Led by the Rev. Fred Phelps, the Kansas group has protested at funerals for soldiers killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, often holding signs saying “Thank God for IEDs,” referring to the improvised explosive devices that have harmed and killed numerous soldiers during the war in Iraq.

Eddie Smith, manager of J.C. Kirby and Son Funeral Home, Lovers Lane chapel, where Kohlhaas’ funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, said he hoped the presence of the Bowling Green Police Department and Patriot Guard Riders will help maintain order during the ceremony.

“With the city police and the Patriot Guard here I’m sure we’ll be all right,” Smith said. “The main thing is to just don’t bother (the protesters).”

The Patriot Guard Riders is a group of motorcycle riders, many of its members being military veterans drawn from the American Legion and other veterans organizations, who offer security at military funerals.

Westboro Baptist Church first gained attention through its protesting of homosexuality, holding signs at rallies that said “God Hates Fags.”

Now, the church claims that soldiers’ deaths are God’s punishment of the nation for tolerating gays.

Thursday’s funeral will not be the first time the church has appeared in Bowling Green to protest - in 2005, members picketed the funeral of Spc. Michael Ray Hayes, also held at J.C. Kirby and Son Funeral Home, Lovers Lane chapel.

The General Assembly passed a law in 2006 that prevented protests at a funeral from happening within 300 feet of the ceremony.

This law was later struck down as unconstitutional after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit.

Current state law defines interference with a funeral as any instance of blocking, impeding, inhibiting or otherwise obstructing access into or out of any building, parking lot or burial plot where a service is taking place from one hour before the beginning of the service to one hour after its conclusion.

Interference with a funeral is a Class B misdemeanor.

Barry Pruitt, spokesman for the Bowling Green Police Department, said the department would be in contact with the funeral home ahead of Thursday’s service and that the presence of the protesters would not result in an increase in the normal police presence at a military funeral.

“The police presence is going to be out there,” Pruitt said. “Our main focus is to keep traffic moving smoothly.”

At a previous funeral in the area at which the protesters from Westboro appeared, Pruitt recalled seeing a group of counterprotesters arrive to oppose the group.

“A few people came out to protest (Westboro), but there were no confrontations and everybody complied with the law,” Pruitt said.