The founder of Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is dead according to reports.
According to reports Fred Phelps, 84, who co-founded the WBC has died. According to a spokesperson for the church, he died on Wednesday night just before Midnight.
He lived in Kansas.
At the beginning of the week, his son Nate Phelps wrote on Facebook:
‘I’m not sure how I feel about this,
‘Terribly ironic that his devotion to his god ends this way. Destroyed by the monster he made.
‘I feel sad for all the hurt he’s caused so many. I feel sad for those who will lose the grandfather and father they loved.
‘And I’m bitterly angry that my family is blocking the family members… from seeing him, and saying their good-byes.’
The group, which has been banned from entering the UK, are known for their outrageous claims and their website: godhatesfags.com. The group have devoted their time to over 52,000 pickets in over 900 cities.
DISGRACED AWARD WINNING LAWYER
Phelps was an award-winning civil rights lawyer before co-founding WBC in 1955. He was disbarred from the Kansas Supreme Court in 1979 and lost his license in 1989.
Last year WBC blamed sex-same marriage for the murder of soldier Lee Rigby.
MATTHEW SHEPARD
One of the most notorious pickets for WBC was for Matthew Shepard’s funeral. Matthew Shepard was killed in an attack in Wyoming in 1998. Matthew’s death spurred the making of the award-winning film The Laramie Project.
