Topeka's anti-gay crusader Fred Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church plan to picket yet another funeral this weekend in a move intended to set up the first challenge of a new Missouri law.
Phelps' followers, known for their "God Hates Fags" and other crude placards, say they will picket the Saturday funeral of Army Pfc. Christopher L. Marion in Anderson, Mo., which is south of Joplin. Marion was killed last week by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Phelps claims that God is allowing soldiers to be killed because the U.S. tolerates gays.
The new law -- signed last week -- bans picketing and protests in front of or near any church, cemetery or funeral home from an hour before the funeral until an hour afterward.
Photo taken by Scott Canon at a Phelps protest in South Haven, Kan.
