Call to support Knoxville soldier's family draws hundreds outside funeral home

Thursday, October 18, 2012

KNOXVILLE - Spurred by social media calls to act, hundreds of people turned out this morning to show their support for the family of a Knoxville soldier whose funeral is today in North Knoxville.

A crowd 10- and 15-people deep gathered on the sidewalks outside Rose Mortuary on Broadway. A number of Knoxville Police Department officers were on the scene as well.

Calls to support Shan Edward Lively's family swelled this week on Facebook and other websites once word spread that members of the Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas-based group that stages controversial protests outside military funerals, might show up at Lively's funeral.

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