Editing Westboro Baptist Church (section)

===Funeral pickets===
The group came into the national spotlight in 1998, when it was featured on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN CNN] for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young man from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laramie,_Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming] who was [[Gay Bashing|beaten to death by two men because of his homosexuality]] in one of the first homophobic [[hate crime]]s to gain national attention. Since then, the church has attracted attention for many more actual and planned funeral pickets.<ref name = Shepard>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45968606 Matthew Shepard: The murder that changed America], ''BBC News''</ref>

In 2003, they enetered the spotlight again when they picketed the funeral of beloved children's show host Fred Rogers.

In July 2005, the Westboro Baptist Church declared its intention to picket the memorial service of Carrie French in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise,_Idaho Boise, Idaho]. French, 19, was killed on June 5 in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk Kirkuk], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq Iraq], where she served as an ammunition specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team's 145th Support Battalion. Phelps Sr. said, "Our attitude toward what's happening with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War the war] is the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime."

In 2006, Westboro picketed with banners saying "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers" at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster,_Maryland Westminster, Maryland], funeral of Matthew Snyder, a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Marine U.S. Marine] who was also killed in Iraq. Ruling on a subsequent lawsuit filed by Snyder's father, Albert Snyder, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Supreme_Court U.S. Supreme Court] decided, 8–1, that Westboro's actions constituted protected free speech.<ref>[https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/03/06/-Snyder-vs-Phelps-Supreme-Court-protects-hateful-speech-near-funeral/58271299402300/ Snyder vs. Phelps: Supreme Court protects hateful speech near funeral], ''United Press International''</ref>

In 2007, the church picketed the memorial service of famous televanglist Tammy Faye Bakker. Calling her a "False Prophetess" and an "adultress" who they believed had lied to gay people about God loving them.

On February 2, 2008, the group picketed during the funeral of former [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints LDS Church] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_Church president] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_B._Hinckley Gordon B. Hinckley] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City Salt Lake City], Utah, displaying picket signs intended to criticize him for being a "lying false prophet" and "leading millions of people astray". The organization also criticized Hinckley for being too accepting of gay people, accusing him of having an ambiguous voice about homosexuality rather than taking a firm stand against it. Police had difficulty determining whether the demonstration met the guidelines of protected free speech.

Westboro picketed the funeral of recording artist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson Michael Jackson] after his death on June 25, 2009.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>Members of Westboro have also recorded a song titled "God Hates the World", an adaptation of Jackson's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_single charity single] "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World We Are the World]".

In May 2010, Westboro picketed the funeral of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music heavy metal] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer singer] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_James_Dio Ronnie James Dio] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles Los Angeles].<ref>[https://www.nme.com/news/music/black-sabbath-127-1296754 Ronnie James Dio’s funeral to be picketed by anti-devil religious cult], ''NME''</ref>

In January 2011, Westboro announced that they would picket the funeral of Christina Green, a 9-year-old victim of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting 2011 Tucson shooting]. In response, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona Arizona] legislature passed an emergency bill to ban protests within 300 feet (91 m) of a funeral service, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucson Tucson] residents made plans to shield the funeral from protesters.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>The church canceled plans to hold a protest during the memorial at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Arizona University of Arizona] in exchange for air time on radio talk shows. According to university officials, between 700 and 1,200 students amassed to counter four WBC picketers who appeared at the campus after the event. Jael Phelps explained to Louis Theroux in her ''America's Most Hated Family in Crisis'' interview that she and the other members of the WBC picketed at the funeral of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim Muslim] man's wife simply because the man had witnessed and scolded them for intentionally [[Quran Burning|burning a copy of the Quran]] in public a week earlier.

Later in March of 2011, the church picket the funeral service of congresswoman and Vice-Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, due to the fact that Ferraro was a member of the Roman Catholic Chrurch.

On October 5, 2011, Fred Phelps' daughter, Margie, announced via her [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter Twitter] account that the church would be picketing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc. Apple Inc.] founder [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs Steve Jobs]' funeral. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_News CBS News] and ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post The Washington Post]'' noted the irony in the fact that Margie used an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone iPhone] to create the tweet. While they did not picket Jobs actual funeral, they did picket a memorial service for him in southern California.

The church announced on December 16, 2012, it would be picketing at the funerals of the victims of the [[Adam Lanza|Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting]].

On April 6, 2013, the church announced it would picket the funeral of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert Roger Ebert], calling him a "fag enabler". However, Ebert's funeral occurred, as planned, on April 8, 2013,<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>and no one from the church was observed to have been present, or to have protested.

On April 15, 2013, the church posted a press release to its [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter Twitter] account in which it thanked God for that day's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon_bombings Boston Marathon bombings], and announced its plan to "picket the funeral of those killed". Pointing out that the federal government is classifying the bombings as a terrorist attack, yet is being unclear about whether it is of a "domestic or foreign nature", the release went on to claim to answer the question with, "Here's a hint — GOD SENT THE BOMBS! How many more terrifying ways will you have the LORD injure and kill your fellow countrymen because you insist on nation-dooming filthy fag marriage?!" By early the next morning, nearly 4,000 people had signed a ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_the_People_%28petitioning_system%29 We the People]'' petition on the White House website asking for the banning of such demonstrations by the church at victims' funerals. Additionally, a posting that same day on a Twitter account affiliated with the hacker group [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_%28group%29 Anonymous] warned that Church leaders would be targeted if they made good on their threat to picket the funerals.<ref name = Anonymous>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2012/12/18/anonymous-hackers-target-westboro-baptist-church-after-protest-plans/ Anonymous' Hackers Target Westboro Baptist Church After Protest Plans], ''Forbes''</ref>

On May 20, 2013, the church tweeted praising God for the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado 2013 Moore tornado] and that they would protest the funerals of the victims.