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Phelps Clan

Rabid anti-gay pastor Fred Phelps, his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper and the rest of his family make up the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. They own the GodHatesFags.com website and have picketed the funerals of people who died of AIDS and of U.S. soldiers.

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Phelps protest in Ga. swarmed by counterprotesters

Project Q Atlanta, Posted: 5/8/2010, 5:22 PM
A polite protest in Midtown pitting a handful of anti-gay activists against hundreds of counter-protesters turned chaotic on Thursday when the crush of counter demonstrators rushed across 10th Street and swarmed the small group from Westboro Baptist Church. The confrontation surprised the scores of Atlanta Police Department officers who were monitoring the protest, which started about 3 p.m. at the 10th Street entrance to Piedmont Park near Grady High School. The counter demonstrators clogged 10th Street and filled Charles Allen Drive as the church members fled. Within minutes, the ranks of the police officers expanded, police cars – lights flashing and sirens blazing – worked to contain the crowd on Charles Allen and several members of the department’s controversial Red Dog Unit appeared. The unit was involved in the raid of the Atlanta Eagle last September and complaints from patrons inside at the time prompted the police department and the Atlanta Citizen Review Board to launch investigations into allegations that officers verbally and physically abused some customers. On Thursday, when several members of the Red Dog Unit dressed in paramilitary gear emerged from a nearby staging area to join officers already near the large crowd, the group stood south of the counter protesters on Charles Allen but didn’t directly engage them.

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Fred Phelps' estranged son tells of abuse, intimidation

Associated Press (AP), Posted: 4/26/2010, 11:26 AM
The estranged son of a controversial Kansas pastor encouraged people to feel sympathy for members of his father’s church, “at least for the young children stuck in that situation.” Nate Phelps, 51, spoke in Topeka over the weekend, marking his first trip in 20 years to the city where his father, Fred Phelps, runs Westboro Baptist Church. He alleged that he endured fear, intimidation and abuse before leaving the family and church on his 18th birthday. He said that while society is quick to take steps to protect children, it seems “curiously blind” when religious beliefs jeopardize a child’s safety. He also predicted that the group would die out eventually. None of its members picketed the speech. Westboro Baptist members, many of them Fred Phelps’ children and grandchildren, have conducted anti-homosexual pickets in Topeka and other cities since 1991. They have been protesting at soldiers’ funerals in recent years, saying military deaths were the work of a wrathful God who punishes the United States for tolerating homosexuality. In an interview with the Topeka Capital-Journal last week, Nate Phelps described his father as “combative, angry, hateful, destructive.” He also said he hadn’t talked much about his origins

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Counterprotesters greet Phelps clan in Gainesville

Gainesville Sun, Posted: 4/19/2010, 2:32 PM
Picketers from the Westboro Baptist Church were met by counterprotesters who held signs, wore costumes and chanted against the group Sunday. Fewer than 10 members of the fundamentalist church, known for protesting at the funerals of American soldiers nationwide, set up a picket line outside Trinity United Methodist Church and the University of Florida Hillel early in the afternoon. The group, which believes military deaths are caused by God punishing the United States for tolerating homosexuality, also was scheduled to protest outside Queen of Peace Catholic Church and the St. Augustine Catholic Church later in the day. However, they later told officers they would not be protesting at the last church and were heading to Tampa where more protests were scheduled today. Approximately 100 people, toting signs, showed up at St. Augustine and waited into the evening to stage a counterprotest against the Westboro church members. The church is the subject of a case headed to the Supreme Court after the father of a Marine, who died in Iraq, sued the group for picketing his son's funeral. Members have picketed in nonmilitary instances, such as following the deaths earlier this month of 29 miners in West Virginia. Meanwhile, at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza, more than 150 people gathered in a rally against Westboro's message while others counterprotested against the group at the different picket locations. Among those at the rally was Mayor-Elect Craig Lowe, who told the crowd that they would know love had conquered hate when a child could find a loving home with a family, whether they were straight or gay, and that people, regardless of their sex, would be able to marry each other.

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500 at Drake counter 'God Hates Fags' protesters

Des Moines Register, Posted: 4/11/2010, 5:58 AM
A family of six carrying signs that read "God hates fags" faced more than 500 counter-protesters singing "All You Need Is Love" on the Drake University campus early Saturday. The confrontation was peaceful and lasted 35 minutes, and no arrests were made. The family of Fred Phelps, founder of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., was in Des Moines to picket the university for hosting a symposium on same-sex marriage. Waving signs that read, "Fags are beasts" and "God hates Jews," the Phelps family assembled on the south side of University Avenue at 7:40 a.m., while the counter-protesters - for the most part - stayed on the north side with signs that read, "Drake rejects hate" and "My God loves everyone." The Westboro contingent included Sara Phelps, 28, and two of her cousins, ages 9 and 13, both of whom were wearing sweatshirts emblazoned with "JewsKilledJesus.com." Sara Phelps said there was nothing inappropriate about the children's involvement in the demonstration. She said the nation's elementary school libraries teach children to be accepting of gays and use "Heather Has Two Mommies," a 1989 children's book about a girl raised by a lesbian couple. "So they teach them, from that age up, that it is OK to be gay, that God loves everybody, and that it is OK to murder unborn babies," Phelps said. "Don't tell me you're not going to teach your children what you believe is right."

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Dead Marine's father ordered to pay Phelps' lawyers

CNN, Posted: 3/31/2010, 6:32 PM
The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church says an order to pay the protesters' legal costs in a civil claim is nothing less than a "slap in the face." "By the court making this decision, they're not only telling me that they're taking their side, but I have to pay them money to do this to more soldiers and their families," said Albert Snyder, whose son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, was killed in action in Iraq in 2006. Members of the fundamentalist church based in Topeka, Kansas, appeared outside Snyder's funeral in 2006 in Westminster, Maryland, carrying signs reading "You're going to hell," "God hates you" and "Thank God for dead soldiers." Among the teachings of the church, which was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps, is the belief that God is punishing the United States for "the sin of homosexuality" through events such as soldiers' deaths. Margie Phelps, the daughter of Fred Phelps and the attorney representing the church in its appeals, also said the money that the church receives from Snyder will be used to finance demonstrations. But she also said that the order was a consequence of his decision to sue the church over the demonstration. "Mr. Snyder and his attorneys have engaged the legal system; there are some rules to that legal engagement," said Phelps, a member of Westboro who says she has participated in more than 150 protests of military funerals.

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Justices to rule on anti-gay protests at soldier funerals

CNN, Posted: 3/9/2010, 7:42 PM
A small Kansas church that has gained nationwide attention for protesting loudly at funerals of U.S. service members will receive a Supreme Court hearing over free speech rights. The justices Monday accepted an appeal from the father of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq over efforts to keep members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church from demonstrating near memorial services and burials. The Marine's family won a $5 million judgment from the protesters, which lower courts overturned. The church, led by pastor Fred Phelps, said it believes God is punishing the United States for "the sin of homosexuality" through events such as soldiers' deaths. Members have traveled the country, shouting at grieving family members at funerals and displaying such signs as "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "God Blew Up the Troops." At issue is a balancing test between the privacy rights of grieving families and the free speech rights of demonstrators, however disturbing and provocative their message. Several states have attempted to impose specific limits on when and where the church can protest. Westboro members appeared outside the 2006 funeral for Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in Westminster, Maryland, outside Baltimore.

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Three anti-gay leaders among those banned by U.K.

San Francisco Chronicle, Posted: 5/13/2009, 8:58 AM
Anti-gay talk show host Michael Savage's commentary has offended groups from parents of autistic kids to Muslim leaders. But the San Francisco-based syndicated talker, who made a "name and shame" list of people banned from entering Britain, may have been shocked himself to find some of his opponents, including civil libertarians, defending him. On Tuesday, British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith published the names of 16 of 22 people banned from the country since October for allegedly fostering extremism or hatred. Savage said he was shocked to learn he was on the list along with Stephen "Don" Black, who founded a white supremacist Web site in Florida, and preacher Fred Phelps, patriarch of an anti-gay Kansas church that has led protests, including some in San Francisco, at which demonstrators held signs reading "God hates fags."

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Phelps clan are banned from Britain as 'extremists'

Posted: 2/21/2009, 9:00 AM
Two U.S. anti-gay preachers have been banned from entering England, officials said.
Fred Phelps and his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper, who belong to the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, were planning to come to Britain to protest outside a performance of "The Laramie Project," the Times of London reported Friday. The plan recounts the death of gay college student Matthew Shepard who was killed in Laramie, Wyo., in 1998. The play is to be performed Saturday at Queen Mary's College. Phelps, 79, and his daughter, 51, are known for protesting at American soldiers' funerals, where they display banners with phrases such as "God Hates Fags." Members of the church say they believe U.S. troop deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are punishment for America's tolerance of gays. Phelps and his daughter have been labeled as "extremists" by the British government.

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Phelps clan vows Vancouver 'Laramie Project' protest

Winnepeg Sun, Posted: 11/10/2008, 4:38 PM
A controversial anti-gay minister from the United States plans a visit to B.C. later this month. Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church and his followers have made a point of picketing funerals, applauding what they believe is the wrath of God against those leading "filthy lives." The group claimed they would picket the funeral of Winnipeg's Tim McLean, the man beheaded on a Greyhound bus last summer, but didn't show up. Now, they want to stage a rally at a play called The Laramie Project in Vancouver. The play is based on the true story of a gay man's brutal murder in Wyoming 10 years ago. Members of the Topeka, Kan., church said they would picket the play in Red Deer, Alta., in August, but failed to turn up.

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Phelps clan suspects arson in fire at anti-gay church

MyFoxKC.com, Posted: 8/4/2008, 1:42 PM
The home of Fred Phelps, the leader of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, caught fire overnight. Amateur video of the fire was posted on YouTube after firefighters put out the flames and began their investigation. Witnesses driving by saw the flames on the home's fence and garage and alerted the Phelps. No one got hurt in the fire. Firefighters have not said yet if it was arson. But, church members believe it was arson because of their controversial stances. The church is known for it's anti-homosexual picketing at the funerals of soldiers.

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