The Westboro Baptist Church has made its name preaching messages of hate outside schools, funerals and places of worship. And now they're coming to our neighborhoods. The so-called "Christian" group plans to make stops at local schools and synagogues, even a community theater, on Friday.
But what FOX40 found is that the threatened exercise in intolerance is actually bringing out the best in Sacramento.
The enraged protestors and the outrageous slogans are coming to Sacramento.
"There's a side of you that... of course it gets to you," said Michal Kohane of with the Jewish Federation of Sacramento. She was reluctant to talk about being a target for the deliberately hateful protestors.
"As media myself covering this... Am I complicit in some way?" asked FOX40 reporter Ben Deci.
"You mean are you helping them achieve their cause?" clarified Kohane. "Yeah. We had this conversation on the phone and also when the Sac Bee called. I said, 'don't make this a story. We're giving publicity to the wrong end.'"
From a recent protest in Houston, we already know what that end believes: "You turned the country over to the fags," said Westboro protestor Shirley Phelps-Roper.
At McClatchy High School, another target for the protestors, signs protestors like Phelps-Roper lack the moral authority to influence savvy students. But they have sparked a debate on freedom and free speech.
"They're gonna protest," said student Alex Ayon. "Everybody has their own rights to do whatever they want. It's cool if they want to do it. I really don't care about it."
"Why can't they leave people alone to their own lives? Why do they try to control other people's lives?" asked student Erin Hannon.
Still, the call isn't going out for counter demonstrations.
"It's a country with free speech. They are allowed to protest, we are allowed to ignore them," said Kohane
And it's Important to look past the message to the motive. The Westboro Church is lead by defrocked Topeka attorney Fred Phelps. The church's congregation is his children, and they are also largely attorneys. They've got a reputation for making their living suing communities that don't protect their free speech rights.
But what FOX40 found is that the threatened exercise in intolerance is actually bringing out the best in Sacramento.
The enraged protestors and the outrageous slogans are coming to Sacramento.
"There's a side of you that... of course it gets to you," said Michal Kohane of with the Jewish Federation of Sacramento. She was reluctant to talk about being a target for the deliberately hateful protestors.
"As media myself covering this... Am I complicit in some way?" asked FOX40 reporter Ben Deci.
"You mean are you helping them achieve their cause?" clarified Kohane. "Yeah. We had this conversation on the phone and also when the Sac Bee called. I said, 'don't make this a story. We're giving publicity to the wrong end.'"
From a recent protest in Houston, we already know what that end believes: "You turned the country over to the fags," said Westboro protestor Shirley Phelps-Roper.
At McClatchy High School, another target for the protestors, signs protestors like Phelps-Roper lack the moral authority to influence savvy students. But they have sparked a debate on freedom and free speech.
"They're gonna protest," said student Alex Ayon. "Everybody has their own rights to do whatever they want. It's cool if they want to do it. I really don't care about it."
"Why can't they leave people alone to their own lives? Why do they try to control other people's lives?" asked student Erin Hannon.
Still, the call isn't going out for counter demonstrations.
"It's a country with free speech. They are allowed to protest, we are allowed to ignore them," said Kohane
And it's Important to look past the message to the motive. The Westboro Church is lead by defrocked Topeka attorney Fred Phelps. The church's congregation is his children, and they are also largely attorneys. They've got a reputation for making their living suing communities that don't protect their free speech rights.
