From a flyer on Fred Phelps' website (pdf).
The Reverend Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas announced on his church website godhatesfags.com that he will be in Caldwell, Idaho June 15th to hold a protest at the funeral of an Idaho National Guard soldier killed in Iraq.
Phelps,
an alledged child-abuser and wife-beater, is most notorious for his protest at the funeral of gay murder victim Matthew Shepard where he declared "Matthew Shepard Rots In Hell." He is also well-known for picketing events across the country with members of his "church," which consists mostly of his extended family.
Spc. Carrie L. French, 19, of Caldwell, Idaho, died June 5 in Kirkuk, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device hit the front of her convoy vehicle and detonated. French was assigned to the Army National Guard's 145th Support Battalion, Boise, Idaho. (From the Iraq Coalition Casualties website.) Spc. French was the 1,674th soldier to die in Iraq since the invasion, and the 13th soldier from Idaho (Idaho also lost a Marine, Lance Cpl. Dustin Birch, on June 9). Spc. French had graduated from Caldwell H.S. just the year before, where she was a varsity cheerleader.
From an AP article by Chuck Oxley, Phelps said the fact that French led an all-American life gives him all the more reason to picket her final public tribute. "An all-American girl from a society of all-American heretics," he said. "Our attitude toward what's happening with the war is the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime."
Caldwell Police Chief Bob Sobba said he cannot bar Phelps from going to the public funeral, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Albertson College of Idaho in that city. "While we respect Mr. Phelps' right to protest, we would hope that he would respect the family and friends of this young person by not disrupting the memorial," Sobba said.
Phelps tried to get a monument erected in Boise last year that would have read, "Matthew Shepard entered Hell October the 12th, 1998 at age 21 in defiance of God's warning, 'Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind; it is abomination.' Leviticus 18:22." Boise officials kicked him to the curb.
Blogger BinkyBoy at our site 43rd State Blues: Democracy for Idaho is also mad as hell, and he's not taking it anymore. He rightly calls for a counter-protest:
I'm going to try to take the afternoon off. I will be ready for this, I will not stand for this kind of shit to be done to an American soldier in my state. I expect to see a huge showing of resistance from Mountain Home (Air Force Base, near Boise) as well. If you are going to this, please contact me [...] and I'll try to organize a meet up point.
I strongly encourage anyone who can make it to go to BinkyBoy's post and drop him a note -- you'll have a chance to pay your respects to a fallen soldier and her family, and show scumbag Phelps and his followers that Idaho won't put up with his hate.