Washington ? You can’t falsely yell “fire” in a crowded theater. And if Albert Snyder gets his way, you won’t be able to go to a military funeral and hold up a sign that says, “Thank God for dead soldiers.”

It might come as a blow to purists who want to defend free speech, no matter how ugly it is. But Snyder figures the First Amendment will survive just fine.

A day after winning a $10.9 million verdict against Westboro Baptist Church and its leaders for picketing his son Matthew’s funeral last year, Snyder was tired and drained Thursday. But he was defiant, too, promising to run the Topeka, Kan., church out of business to make sure that other grieving families don’t have to put up with demonstrators at funerals.

“I don’t expect to collect $10 million, but I do intend to collect everything they have,” Snyder said.

Snyder, 52, from York, Pa., is going very public with his fight. He’s created a legal fund and set up a Web site – www.matthewsnyder.org – and is urging the public to write to elected officials urging them to pass laws that would prevent picketing at funerals.

Leaders of the 71-member Westboro church, founded by Fred Phelps Sr. in 1955, sounded equally defiant and promised to appeal.

Snyder predicted that the verdict ultimately will force the church to stop its protests.