Bellevue, Neb. ? Bellevue City Council won’t let members of a Kansas church protest next week outside the funeral of a sailor killed in Iraq.

A Bellevue permit application form filed Monday with the city said a maximum 15 people affiliated with Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka wanted to hold a “religious demonstration” on Monday morning near the Bellevue Christian Center.

A funeral has been scheduled there for Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey Chaney, 35, a 1990 graduate of Bellevue West High School. The Defense Department says he and another sailor were killed by a roadside bomb last Tuesday in Iraq’s Salah Ad Din Province.

Chaney’s body arrived Monday at Offutt Air Force Base in a flag-draped casket, escorted by his brother, Petty Officer 2nd Class Randy Chaney. The base sits on the southeastern corner of Bellevue.

Listed on the application were Jonathan Phelps and his sister, Shirley Phelps-Roper.

She faces four misdemeanor charges in connection with a demonstration last month outside a Bellevue soldier’s funeral. Her 10-year-old son allegedly stomped on an American flag during the protest.

Westboro Baptist Church says that troop deaths are God’s judgment against America for tolerating homosexuals. Phelps-Roper’s father founded the church, which has protested at military funerals across the nation.

On Monday, Bellevue Police Capt. Herb Evers told the City Council that the church group had broken the law at the last protest, so he wanted the council to reject the new application.

After a discussion, the council voted 8-0 to deny the permit.

The church can appeal the denial by filing a lawsuit, said Tim Kenny, a city attorney.

City Councilman Gary Mixan said the council “might be opening up a Pandora’s Box here” by denying the permit. He suggested approving the permit with conditions on the protest.