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Church threat to picket Boston race funerals
THE Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) has threatened to picket the funerals of those who died in the Boston Marathon bomb blasts.
17 April 2013 | Aarifah Nosarka
The explosions on Monday claimed at least three lives and left more than 150 people injured. As word spread of the incident, the WBC were quick to announce on their Twitter account that they would picket the funerals.
The church said the bombs were God’s retribution for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the State of Massachusetts almost eight years ago.
“Westboro Baptist Church to picket funerals of those dead by Boston Bombs! God sent the bombs in fury over fag marriage!,” the group tweeted not long after news broke about the blast.
Known for its extremist ideologies, especially those against gay people, it has often been labelled as a hate group. Headed by Fred Phelps, the group has been known to picket funerals of fallen soldiers, celebrities and public events.
They have previously protested at the funerals of Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs and Matthew Shepard. In January this year, the group’s threat to picket at the funeral of Internet activist and Reddit founder Aaron Swartz was derailed by “hacktivist” group Anonymous.