Shirley Phelps-Roper, the church's attorney and daughter of church founder Fred W. Phelps Sr., said the group chose Trinity in part because of its proximity to I-70. Members demonstrated at Ohio State University in Columbus and Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W.Va., earlier in the day.
"We picked it because it stands in the shadows of all doomed American high schools," Phelps-Roper said.
Kasunich said he suspected Trinity's name played a part.
"If you research the group, they're anti-Catholic, anti-gay, anti-military, and I think they may believe that Trinity, given the name, may have had a Catholic connotation," he said.
Counterprotesters included neighbors, students from nearby Washington & Jefferson College and Wheeling Jesuit, and a group calling itself the Concerned Citizens. They carried anti-Westboro signs and cheered passing vehicles that honked in support. Some shouted "Go home!" and another group started singing "God Bless America."
Controversial church brings 'provocation' to Washington campus
By Bob Bauder
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
'God hates America'
Justin Merriman | Pittsburgh Tribune-Reviewclick to enlarge
'More dead soldiers'
Justin Merriman | Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewAbout the writer
Bob Bauder is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review staff writer and can be reached at 412-380-5627 or via e-mail.
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Nine members of a controversial Kansas church known for protesting military funerals disrupted classes in a Washington County school district yesterday by staging a 30-minute demonstration at Trinity High School.
Members of Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church -- including two children, ages 8 and 9 -- sang and chanted a message condemning gays, abortion and members of the military, among other things, as two dozen police officers kept watch outside the school.
"My son just got back from Afghanistan," said North Franklin police Chief Richard Horner, who led the detail. "I don't much care for them, but I have to protect people."
The church members carried signs, dragged American flags on the ground and danced to music on Park Avenue. The group arrived about 2:15 p.m. and left in a Ford van about 30 minutes later with a police escort. Officers, some with dogs, kept the group separate from counter-protesters and onlookers.
Trinity Area School District administrators, who learned of the protest about six weeks ago when Westboro notified North Franklin officials of its intentions, dismissed classes districtwide beginning at 10 a.m. Superintendent Paul Kasunich, who watched the protest, cited student safety as the main reason. The district has about 3,400 students.
Kasunich said Internet research of Westboro and its radical message convinced him that students would gain nothing by witnessing the event. He asked students to go home upon dismissal.
"This group's sole purpose is publicity, then lawsuits," he said. "They want provocation. They want conflict. We decided we wouldn't give them what they want, and I think at this point we've done a pretty good job."
The group was on its way to Washington, where the Supreme Court is scheduled this week to hear arguments on whether the church has a First Amendment right to protest at private funerals.
Shirley Phelps-Roper, the church's attorney and daughter of church founder Fred W. Phelps Sr., said the group chose Trinity in part because of its proximity to I-70. Members demonstrated at Ohio State University in Columbus and Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W.Va., earlier in the day.
"We picked it because it stands in the shadows of all doomed American high schools," Phelps-Roper said.
Kasunich said he suspected Trinity's name played a part.
"If you research the group, they're anti-Catholic, anti-gay, anti-military, and I think they may believe that Trinity, given the name, may have had a Catholic connotation," he said.
Counterprotesters included neighbors, students from nearby Washington & Jefferson College and Wheeling Jesuit, and a group calling itself the Concerned Citizens. They carried anti-Westboro signs and cheered passing vehicles that honked in support. Some shouted "Go home!" and another group started singing "God Bless America."
Mary Pillow of Amity said Trinity students should have been encouraged to witness the event.
"I think they could have learned a valuable lesson in civility and decency and letting the truth be heard instead of just going home and watching TV," she said. "There could have been some great conversations in that school tomorrow."
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