Westboro Gay-Bashers Plan to Picket Paterno's Funeral
Always eager for the next outrage, the Kansas-based 鈥� already infamous worldwide for its 鈥淕od Hates F---鈥� website and its regular picketing of American soldiers鈥� funerals 鈥� says it will picket the funeral of Penn State football coaching legend Joe Paterno.
The church, largely composed of pastor and his extended family, regularly claims that people who have been killed at war, in accidents and by murderers are God鈥檚 way of punishing America for 鈥渆nabling f---.鈥� Its decision to picket Paterno鈥檚 still-unscheduled funeral is based on Paterno鈥檚 role in a sex scandal involving his long-time assistant鈥檚 alleged molestation of young boys. Paterno, who died of lung cancer Sunday, was fired by Penn State after Jerry Sandusky was arrested late last year.
Westboro鈥檚 congregants typically picket funerals with signs like 鈥淭hank God for Dead Soldiers鈥� and 鈥淭hank God for AIDS.鈥� They have vilified public and private figures alike, going so far as to picket the funerals of children killed in school bus accidents. They are so provocative that groups from left to right have banded together to screen funeral participants from the church鈥檚 pickets.
Westboro鈥檚 plans were first reported by The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa., on Sunday, shortly after Phelps鈥� daughter, Margie Phelps, sent out several tweets on the matter. According to tweets posted by NBC Sports鈥� College Football Talk website, she wrote, among other things, 鈥淣o RIP Joe Paterno. No peace in hell鈥� and 鈥淪top pimping out your kids鈥� in making the Westboro announcement.
Westboro carries out scores of pickets around the country every year. But it often makes announcements of particularly outrageous plans, waits for the kind of angry publicity it has come to expect, and then fails to actually carry out its plans.
