Westboro Baptist Church To Picket Air Force Academy Graduation

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – A controversial group known for picketing the funerals of slain military veterans with anti-gay slogans will protest outside the Air Force Academy's graduation ceremonies Wednesday.

Officials at the Air Force Academy say that as long as the Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church members are not disruptive, they are allowed to protest.

"We have demonstrators every year when we have a graduation," said Meade Warthen, Academy spokesperson. "If they come, they can picket outside the north gate."

The controversial church is run by family members of the late Rev. Fred Phelps, who died in 2014. Church members say they will protest the Air Force Academy because they want to warn people attending the ceremony to "repent or perish as Babylon."

At its protests, WBC members have been known to hold inflammatory signs bearing messages like "God Hates Jews," "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for AIDS." The church is not affiliated with any Baptist or Christian denomination. It is listed as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.

Image via Shutterstock: NEW YORK CITY - SEPTEMBER 11 2014:members of Westboro Baptist Church appeared in front of Ground Zero during memorial services on the 13th anniversary of the WTC attacks with signs praising the attack.