Westboro Baptist Church to speak outside schools in Fresno, Reedley

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The Westboro Baptist Church is scheduled to talk extracurricular 2 precocious schools successful Fresno County aboriginal this month.

The group, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center arsenic "arguably the astir obnoxious and rabid hatred radical successful America," says their beingness extracurricular the schools is to let the students determination "to recognize the information of God."

"We bring this gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, preaching to each creature, truthful that successful the time of judgment, which is upon this nation, arsenic is her destruction, determination volition beryllium nary that tin accidental I did not know," Shirley Phelps-Roper with the Westboro Baptist Church said.

The Westboro Baptist Church's (WBC) website reveals the radical is scheduled to publically preach astatine Roosevelt High School successful Fresno and Reedley High School successful Reedley. The 2 events are the lone 2 taking spot connected the West Coast.

The scheduled events volition instrumentality spot connected Oct. 28 astatine Roosevelt High School successful Fresno from 3:55 p.m. to 4:25 p.m. - and connected Oct. 31 astatine Reedley High School from 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m.

"If students travel up to america and inquire america questions, we volition beryllium blessed to reply them. We bash not docket thing connected campus. We spell similar our savior did without the campy truthful to speak, connected the nationalist streets," Phelps-Roper said.

In a statement, Kings Canyon Unified School District wrote that they are alert of the planned objection extracurricular Reedley High School.

The information and well-being of our students and unit are ever our apical priority. We are coordinating intimately with field information and instrumentality enforcement to guarantee a harmless and unafraid situation for all.

Kings Canyon Unified School District

The Fresno Unified School District besides responded to YourCentralValley.com's petition for comment, confirming that the lawsuit is not affiliated with the schoolhouse and has not been planned successful collaboration with Fresno Unified.

This lawsuit is not astatine each affiliated with our schoolhouse and has not been It volition instrumentality spot extracurricular of schoolhouse hours. The PD postulation part and peculiar lawsuit part are alert of the event, and we are moving intimately with them to instrumentality further information measures arsenic needed. Our precedence is to guarantee that our students are not affected arsenic they permission school.

Fresno Unified School District

The Southern Poverty Law Center's statement of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) besides establishes their anti-LGBTQ ideology shown successful "harsh anti-gay beliefs."

In effect to the planned events, LGBTQ Fresno says they are taking enactment with "a conjugation of section LGBTQ+ organizations and allies are coming unneurotic to basal against their connection of intolerance."

"The WBC has gained notoriety for targeting LGBTQ+ individuals, subject personnel, and different marginalized groups with protests filled with violative and hurtful rhetoric," LGBTQ Fresno wrote.

LGBTQ Fresno has already announced 2 counter-protest dates to coincide with the Westboro Baptist Church's events astatine Roosevelt High School connected Oct. 28 and Reedley High School connected Oct. 31.