Fire breaks out at Westboro Baptist "church" garage

They call it a "church" but when you watch the video, it's a garage! Do they have a free speech right? Sure but they also have to be ready to hear what others say about them using their own free speech rights as well. They have a right to show what they are when they protest military funerals and the families have a right to have the Patriot Guard show up to keep them away from the family.

As the camera covered the firefighters putting out the fire, you can see people standing there holding up their signs of hatred. It really is a shame that their "religion" also seems to have decided they can harass a 91 year old neighbor.

Fire breaks out at 'God Hates Fags' church

by Nick Langewis

Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, known for its vocal condemnations of homosexuality, website GodHatesFags.com and picketing of gay pride parades and funerals, has sustained thousands of dollars in damage after a fire early Saturday morning. Impromptu protest followed as firefighters carried out their response.

"None of what they do is going to stop us from delivering our message," said church counsel Shirley Phelps-Roper of any "cowards" that would have set the fire on purpose, also saying that it was the "most aggressive act" towards the Phelps family to date.

"There is evidence that hatred of our religion was the motivation, in part at least," states a "Civil Rights Hate Crime Complaint" written by pastor Fred Phelps Sr. to Attorney General Michael Mukasey. In a recently released YouTube presentation, Phelps also blames law enforcement, judges, and the "filthy, fag-riddled military" for what he considers an assault on his First Amendment rights.

Meanwhile, a neighbor is suspicious that the fire is a hoax meant to intimidate her into giving up her property. "They keep claiming that this property is theirs, and it is not theirs," said 91-year-old Leona McQueen. "They keep wanting to buy me, but I don't want to sell it. I don't know if whether they are trying to push me out."

"It's a ridiculous accusation," Phelps-Roper countered. "The fire was started by someone as we slept. Thankfully the lord our god (sic) keeps us in all our ways."

The cause of the fire has not been determined. No picketing signs were harmed. Video footage taken during the emergency response appears below, courtesy of The Topeka Capital-Journal.
go here for the video
http://pageoneq.com/news/2008/westboro080408.html