Westboro Baptist Church targets Joe Paterno funeral

 

Anti-homosexual hate group to picket late Penn State football coach over Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case

 

The Westboro Baptist Church hatemongers have a new target - the funeral of Joe Paterno.

The anti-gay group made the announcement Sunday via Twitter.

"Joe Paterno is dead. WBC will picket his funeral," wrote Margie Phelps, daughter of Westboro's leader, Pastor Fred Phelps. "He's in hell. Don't partake of your neighbor's sin!"

Paterno, the beloved former Penn State football coach, died Sunday at the age of 85 due to lung cancer. His long career came to a crashing end when he was fired for not doing enough about the child sex abuse scandal involving his assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.

The Paterno family said Monday the late coach would be buried Wednesday.

The first public viewing will be held on Tuesday starting at 1 p.m. at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus. Another will be on Wednesday starting at 8 a.m., followed by a private funeral service at 2 p.m. A memorial service will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Jordan Center, the basketball arena next to Beaver Stadium.

Westboro followers have used dozens of funerals to promote their anti-homosexuality message. They targeted the services of Apple's Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson, as well as many military funerals.

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