A fire broke out near a garage on the property of Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church early on Saturday morning. In footage posted online, the church's anti-gay picket signs can be seen stacked in the garage. Phelps released a video later that day blaming the fire on “fags” or “fag sympathizers”. Then he blamed it on the judges, the “unfaithful devils in black robes” who refuse to enforce the law when crimes are committed against the WBC. And don't forget the “filthy, fag-riddled military.”
Watch the clips of the fire and of Phelps, AFTER THE JUMP…
A 91-year-old neighbor of the church says she believes it was an elaborate attempt by the Church itself to scare her into selling her property, which she says they've been trying to do for years.
Said Leona McQueen: “They keep claiming that this property is theirs, and it is not theirs. 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. I don't know.”
Said: Shirley Phelps-Roper said: “It's a ridiculous accusation. The fire was started by someone as we slept. Thankfully the lord our god keeps us in all our ways. The noise that they made the fire was so big and voluminous the popping and cracking woke people up.”
Clips AFTER THE JUMP…
