Saturday, November 01, 2008

Westboro Church of God extends protest plans

On Friday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that members of the far-out Westboro Church of God in Topeka can continue to protest at military funerals in Missouri.

Apparently, the group plans to do more than just protest at military funerals. The Omaha World-Herald reports Rev. Fred Phelps' church will picket at the funerals of three Omaha high school students who were killed in a car accident:

Members of the Topeka church have picketed the funerals of gay people who died of AIDS and have said the deaths of U.S. troops are a divine judgment on Americans for tolerating homosexuality.

Cass County Sheriff's Lt. Larry Burke said he was stumped as to why Westboro members would protest at the teens' funerals. Church leaders could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

"There is no connection between this group and the kids," Burke said. "They seem to target anything that will gain them notoriety."

The three Elmwood-Murdock students died in a Sunday evening accident when the Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Eggert went out of control and turned into the path of a Chevy pickup. Authorities do not suspect any wrongdoing.

No comments: