Westboro Baptist Church at AU on Friday: Protest and Counter Protest Planned

Students at American University have been Tweeting up a storm about the announced intention of members of the Westboro Baptist Church to stage a protest against their school, which the church calls "fag-infested and pervert-run," on Friday, January 14 at 4 p.m.  Westboro Baptist Church members have announced that the protest will take place at 4400 Massachusetts Avenue near but not on AU's campus and will last for 45 minutes.

The students are planning a counter-protest but there is no official plan announced for it.  One student wrote:  "Come on out if you've got the time -- the more the...well, not merrier, but...more is good" and said he would provide an update with details about the counter-protest as soon as they become available.

The Westboro Baptist Church has a history of staging protests designed to outrage and offend.  Previously, WBC church members have picketed the funerals of a US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In one of the cases the father of the soldier brought suit to have the protest declared not protected speech under the First Amendment.  The US Supreme Court heard the case in October, and a decision is pending.

Thanks to TBD for alerting us to this story.