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NEWS ABOUT: Fred Phelps

Unlikely FBI Trainers: Westboro Church

Furious agents get sessions canceled

(Newser) - The Westboro Baptist Church apparently has a thing or two to teach the FBI, so leaders were invited by federal officials to help train agents at Quantico, NPR has discovered. Churchgoers were called in to show agents what makes extremists tick, according to federal sources. Early training sessions went off... More »

Westboro Protested by ... the KKK

Two groups converge at Arlington National Cemetery

(Newser) - Not a surprise: Westboro Baptist Church was doing its thing yesterday, protesting at Arlington National Cemetery hours before President Obama’s Memorial Day observances at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Somewhat more of a surprise: Members of the controversial church were met by a counter-protest … by purported members of... More »

Westboro to Obama, Justices: You're Going to Hell

And more lighthearted fun on the Sunday dial

(Newser) - Westboro Baptist Church may have scored a key First Amendment victory this week, but they're not about to send out thank-you notes, reports Politico . In an appearance this morning on Fox News Sunday attorney and Fred Phelps daughter Margie Phelps said that the Supreme Court justices are hell-bound. “... More »

Gloating Westboro Vows to Quadruple Protests

Anti-gay extremists hail Supreme Court decision

(Newser) - The Westboro Baptist Church reacted to its Supreme Court victory yesterday with its usual amount of tact and good grace. Gloating leaders of the Kansas-based extremist church vowed to quadruple the number of protests at military funerals now that the court has ruled such demonstrations are protected under the First... More »

Supreme Court: Westboro Protests Protected

Pickets might be 'outrageous,' but covered by 1st Amendment

(Newser) - John Roberts' Supreme Court ruled 8-1 today that the controversial Westboro Baptist Church pickets outside military funerals might be "outrageous," but they're also protected under the First Amendment. The ruling upholds a reversal of a lower court's $5 million award to a dead Marine's father, who sued Westboro... More »

Arizona Bans Funeral Protests

Lawmakers head off group's plan to protest at Tucson victims' funerals

(Newser) - Arizona lawmakers have moved swiftly to prevent the Westboro Baptist Church from carrying out its plan to picket the funerals of Tucson shooting victims . Emergency legislation banning protests at or near funeral sites was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer Tuesday evening after it was unanimously approved by the... More »

Westboro Funeral Picketers to Be Confronted by 'Angels'

Silent supporters will block mourners with large wings

(Newser) - When Westboro Baptist Church picketers arrive at the funeral of 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green on Thursday, they’ll be met by a group of angels. Tucson residents are coming together to build 8- by 10-foot angel wings, which participants will wear while surrounding the mourners. "We want to surround... More »

Westboro Baptist Will Picket Arizona Victims' Funerals

Fred Phelps has another disturbing video message

(Newser) - Well, you had to see this coming, but that doesn’t make it any less disturbing: The Westboro Baptist Church will picket at the funerals of Saturday’s Tucson shooting victims. In a video posted on the church’s official website, Fred Phelps thanks God for “the violent shooter,... More »

Westboro Church to Protest at Elizabeth Edwards' Funeral

You stay classy, Fred Phelps

(Newser) - America’s least-favorite protest group is at it again. The Westboro Baptist Church will picket the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards, it announced today on its website, the charmingly named godhatesfags.com. The church didn’t elaborate on Edwards' specific transgression, but given that its ultraconservative congregation usually gets its jollies... More »

Guy Pepper-Sprays Westboro Group at Funeral

Target was extremist demonstrators: cops

(Newser) - Those appalled by the tactics of the Westboro Baptist Church have a new folk hero: An Omaha man yesterday drove by as the group protested the funeral of a Marine killed in Afghanistan, reached out his window and pepper-sprayed them. George Vogel, 62, faces 16 charges of misdemeanor assault, one... More »

Marine's Dad Ordered to Pay Protesters' Court Fees

He's having trouble finding money for Supreme Court filing

(AP) - The father of a Marine killed in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters was ordered to pay the protesters' appeal costs, his lawyers said yesterday. On Friday, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered Albert Snyder to pay $16,510 to Fred Phelps, the leader of... More »

Supreme Court Takes on Anti-Gay Funeral Protest Case

Father of slain soldier wants damages from Westboro Baptist Church

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a lawsuit against the Westboro Baptist Church, the band of religious zealots who hold anti-gay protests at the funerals of slain soldiers. The case is being brought by the father of a Marine killed in Iraq, whose son's funeral was targeted by the... More »

'Lady Gaga Is Going to Hell!': Rev

Fred Phelps thinks singer is a 'proud whore' who hates you

(Newser) - Rev. Fred Phelps hates all things gay, and Lady Gaga certainly qualifies. So he’s launching a crusade against her, announcing today that his Westboro Baptist Church will picket an upcoming Gaga concert. In a charming press release titled “God Hates Lady Gaga,” he explains that Gaga is... More »

Barred Savage Calls for British Boycott

Savage, Phelps lash out at UK's hate speech penalty

(Newser) - Right-wing radio mouth Michael Savage has branded British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith a "witch" and urged his listeners yesterday to boycott the country's products and cancel trips to Britain, the Daily Telegraph reports. "I suggest you stop buying English made goods," fumed Savage, who has been barred... More »

UK Publishes List of Banned 'Extremists'

US radio host Savage named among those fostering 'hatred'

(AP) - Britain for the first time has published a list of people barred from entering the country for what the government says is fostering extremism or hatred. The list includes popular US talk-radio host Michael Savage, who has called the Koran a "book of hate” and has enraged parents of... More »

Phelps' Bond With Dad Hardly Golden

Pop a Beijing no-show; Mike's also getting no love from Beard

(Newser) - Michael Phelps’ estranged dad, who’s had a peripheral role in the swimming sensation’s life since divorcing his mom when the boy was 9, has not contacted his son once during the Olympics, Fred Phelps tells the New York Post. "He's so busy, I'm sure not even his... More »

Hate Church Plans to Picket Ledger Funeral

Baptist extremists will bash late actor for 'Brokeback' role

(Newser) - A homophobic Kansas church known for protesting at the funerals of dead soldiers has announced plans to picket Heath Ledger's funeral because he played a gay character in Brokeback Mountain, MSNBC reports. "He got on that big screen with a big, fat message: God is a liar and it's... More »

Anti-Gay Church Ordered to Pay Dead Marine's Family $11M

Jury says protests violate privacy

(Newser) - A fundamentalist Kansas church has been ordered to pay $11 million to the father of a Marine killed in Iraq after a jury decided that anti-gay church protesters violated the family's privacy. Members of Westboro Baptist Church routinely wave anti-gay posters at soldiers' funerals because they claim the war is... More »

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