The controversial Westboro Baptist Church is back in El Paso to protest the funeral of a local fallen soldier, staff sergeant Staff Sgt. Christopher Diaz, which has many different groups rallying in support of the Diaz family.

Diaz, Marine, was killed in combat on Sept. 28. The 27-year-old grew up in El Paso, but graduated from high school in Albuquerque, which the military lists as his hometown. His mother and step-father live in El Paso.

The Patriot Guard from Albuquerque left Sunday on motorcycles to make its way to El Paso. Social media is overloaded with re-posts of a message calling people to silently shield the family from protesters. And a small group of three women who call themselves "The Street Team" spent the early hours of Monday morning trying to locate the Westboro protestors and peacefully prevent them from reaching the funeral.

"If we could stop the protesters from even being at the funeral, that's the best thing we can do," said Lacey, a local Army wife who asked to have her last name left out for security purposes. "I can't even imagine what this family must be feeling and as a military spouse it just makes me sick to my stomach that someone would do this."

When Lacey first heard the news that Westboro Church would be coming to protest in El Paso, she said she cried and then decided she needed to do something. She posted on Facebook that she wanted to see if she could locate the protesters at a hotel and block the entrance, because she'd seen that technique work at a funeral in Mississippi. Two other Army wives, Tiffy Darnell, and Alyssa (who also wished to be known by her first name) jumped on board.

"They have the right to freedom of speech," said Darnell. "But we have the right to stand up for what we believe as well."

The women all said they didn't plan to illegally block any roads, but did admit that they would willingly get towed with a parking ticket if it meant keeping the protesters at bay.

"Our soldiers, who are dying, are fighting for our ability to protest, and the Westboro Baptist Church is protesting the very thing that gives them that right," Darnell said. "I think that's absolutely ridiculous."

Westboro Baptist Church hasn't protested in El Paso since 2007, but on Oct. 6 the church released a statement that said it planned to have 200 protesters at the funeral.

"Sergeant Diaz gave his life for the Constitutional right of WBC to warn America." said the press release. "To deny us our First Amendment rights is to declare to the world that Sergeant Diaz died in vain, and that America is a nation of sodomite hypocrites."

The funeral is set to take place Monday at 10 a.m at St. Mark Catholic Church, followed by internment at the Fort Bliss National Cemetery.

Because Monday is also Columbus Day, many soldiers and government employees have a holiday, but according to the Army wives of the Street Team, local soldiers have been instructed they are not allowed to be at the funeral in uniform.