The Westboro Church has plans to picket a vigil for children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, but now 250,000 people have signed a White House petition that would label it as a hate group.
In fact, it is the largest online White House petition in history, logging almost 250,000 signatures since it was created two weeks ago. It only needed 25,000 signatures to be reviewed by the Obama administration.
Westboro Baptist Church earned a reputation in the past for creating controversy for their views against homosexuality, and they blame most of the tragedies, ranging from the death of American soldiers to the recent Newtown school massacre, on the government’s pro-homosexual agenda.
The White House petition was formed after church spokesperson Shirey Phelps-Roper tweeted plans to protest a vigil for the Sandy Hook victims to “sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgement.”
Westboro’s Margie Phelps said in a video-taped interview that God sent the 20-year-old Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter, to kill people in Connecticut because the state legalized same-sex marriage. “Connecticut was one of the first states to come out with same-sex marriage,” Phelps said as she sat beside a blood-red-stained sign that read: “God sent the shooter.”
What’s even more disturbing is the message that many more shooters will soon come.
“Many more shooters, many more dead are coming,” Phelps stated.
The Southern Poverty Law Center calls the Westboro Baptist Church “arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America.” The Anti-Defamation League calls it “a small virulently homophobic, anti-Semitic hate group.”
The White House petition was formed after church spokesperson Shirey Phelps-Roper tweeted plans to protest a vigil.
Despite widespread opposition against the group, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the church in 2011, saying that it’s right to picket funerals was protected under the First
Amendment.