Westboro Baptist Church Plans Protest at Mansfield Funeral

Update 7:18 p.m.: The Congregational Church of Mansfield on West Street will hold a meeting Sunday at 2p.m. to discuss a peaceful response to the possible protest on Tuesday.

Update 5 p.m.: Earlier today, Mansfield Police Chief Arthur O'Neill responded to the possibility of a protest on Tuesday. He said that Mansfield PD will be ready if there is a picket but that he believes it is unlikely that the group will show up. Click here to read more.

Original story

The Westboro Baptist Church, an extremist group infamous for protesting military funerals, has announced plans to picket the funeral of Lieutenant Colonel Michael J. Greene on Tuesday, Feb. 19.

The picket is planned for 8:15 a.m. near St. Mary’s Church on Pratt Street.

The Kansas-based group announced the protest as one of four military funerals they plan to be at between February 15 and 19.

While the group often announces plans to protest, they have been known to not show up. Their demonstrations often attract counter-protests.

In an announcement posted in the press release section of their website, the group says, “If you sign up to be a part of the military, you sign up to stand proud in God’s crosshairs for the cause of f*** and whores. Soldiers die for WBC’s right to preach. To deny us our First Amendment rights is to declare to the world that these soldiers died in vain, and that America is a nation of sodomite hypocrites.”

The group went on to say that soldiers are dying for homosexuals and the other sins of America and that God is now America’s enemy who fights against the country.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has named the Westboro Baptist Church a hate group.