Between 300 and 400 counter-protesters turned out at the Virginia Holocaust Museum today to respond to a visit to Richmond by an anti-gay, anti-Semitic hate group from Kansas.
Four members of the Westboro Baptist Church, including a 11-year-old boy, stood on the corner of East Cary and South 21st streets, carrying signs, singing and chanting hate messages. The youngster held a sign that said, “God Hates Jews.“
They demonstrated for about 30 minutes before heading to the second of four stops in the area, the Jerusalem Connection, a Jewish cultural organization in South Richmond. They were to also go to the Jewish Community Center and Hermitage High School.
Jay Ipson, one of the Holocaust Museum founders, sought to invite the Topeka, Kan., group members into the museum but they continued chanting and did not respond to his entreaty.
While there was some heckling among the counter-protesters, Ipson and others instructed the crowd to not hold signs and make the demonstration a silent one, so as to have a unified message.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups around the country, has described the Westboro group as “the most despicable group we cover.“
The group is mostly made up of the extended family of founder Fred Phelps. They also picket funerals of American soldiers, saying that God has killed them for defending a nation of “sodomite hypocrites.“
Faith groups, student organizations and others have banded today in counter protests.
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