Fred Phelp's Church Ordered to Pay $10.9M for Protest of Gay Marine's Funeral

A federal jury has just awarded $2.9 million to Albert Snyder, who sued the Westboro Baptist Church for picketing the funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who died in Iraq last year.

According to a Reuters report, the jury in the case determined that the leaders of the Kansas based fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church invaded the family's privacy when they picketed the funeral last year.

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett, who had sealed the church's financial documents, said from the bench that the compensatory damage award would already eclipse Westboro's assets.

The case is believed to be the first such suit brought against the church, headed by Rev. Fred Phelps, which has picketed hundreds of military and other funerals around the country in the past two years. The church is made up largely of Phelps' relatives. Their actions—which include people carrying signs that read, “Thank God for dead soldiers” and “God hates fags”—have prompted at least 22 states to enact or propose laws to limit the rights of protesters at funerals. Congress has passed a law prohibiting such protests at federal cemeteries.

"They turned this funeral into a media circus, and they wanted to hurt my family," Snyder testified, according to the Associated Press. "They wanted their message heard, and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside."

The jury in the case awarded an additional $8 million in punitive damages against the church for invasion of privacy and causing emotional distress.

***

Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church issued a press realse today stating they will resume picketing the funerals of dead soldiers today. Said a press release from the church, which tanked God for the verdict: "We will continue to warn you of your impending doom as long as our God gives us breath. Not only did you fail to stop our preaching, but our message has gone to the entire world."

The group's presence at the funerals of dozens of soldiers across the country has sparked a grassroots movement of bikers determined to drown out the jeers and taunts. While Westboro's congregation remains stable at around 70 to 100 people -- most of whom are the extended family of founder Fred Phelps -- the ranks of the Patriot Guard Riders has swelled to more than 117,000 in the past two years. If the Westboro protestors show up as planned at the funerals of Sergeant Scott Turner in Norton, Kansas and Staff Sergeant Larry Rougle in West Jordan, Utah on Friday, their signs will be masked by an honor guard of flag-waving bikers.