Westboro Will Picket Joe Paterno's Funeral

Margie Phelps says he 'partook of sin for fame and fortune'
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 23, 2012 7:26 AM CST
Westboro Will Picket Joe Paterno's Funeral
Penn State coach Joe Paterno walks onto the field at Beaver Stadium during warm ups before an NCAA college football game against Northwestern in State College, Pa., Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010.   (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Joe Paterno's death caused, to put it mildly, mixed reactions: The Hollywood Reporter has a roundup, and it includes everything from George HW Bush's glowing remembrance of the Penn State coach to this zinger from a Late Show writer and producer: "Will there be a moment of silence for Joe Paterno, to honor his silence when he discovered children were being attacked?" But the most extreme reaction came, of course, from those paragons of understatement, the Westboro Baptist Church.

Pastor Fred Phelps' daughter, Margie, announced on Twitter yesterday that the church would picket Paterno's funeral, TMZ reports. "'Penn State Penn Rape' rings in Joe Paterno's ears in hell. He partook of sin for fame & fortune. Worth NOTHING to him now. #PicketFuneral," she tweeted. Another gem: "Stop pimping out your kids to raping coaches @CollegeFootball! WBC must picket Paterno funeral." Click to see how Penn State reacted. (More WBC stories.)

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