MERIDIAN, Miss. — Police in Meridian, Miss., say they plan to file charges against a group of self-described Satanists for performing a same-sex ritual at the grave site of the mother of Westboro Baptist church’s founder Fred Phelps.
On July 14, members of the New York-based the Satanist Temple performed what its spokesman describes as a “pink mass” ritual to celebrate gay love, at the grave in Meridian, Miss., grave site of Catherine Johnston, and then posthumously declared Johnston a lesbian.
Members of the Satanist Temple perform a “gay ritual” at the grave site of Catherine Johnston, mother of Westboro Baptist church founder Fred Phelps, on July 14.
The ritual — which consisted of the group’s spokesman Lucien Greaves wearing a headdress made of horns as two male couples, and a female couple recited scripture, lit candles and made out over the grave — was in protest of the Topeka, Kan.-based church’s frequent picketing at funerals of dead soldiers and it’s “God hates fags” demonstrations.
A video report of the ritual is here.
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But now, Captain Dean Harper says the Meridian police department has plenty of evidence to arrest these individuals on charges of trespassing, indecent exposure and malicious mischief, reported WTOK-TV.
“It is an unusual crime that we haven’t come across to my knowledge in awhile,” says Harper. “Not only does it violate a state and city ordinance, but it also violates the moral decency of a human being.”
The Satanic Temple said they hoped their actions would draw attention to the organization’s efforts to raise money to participate in New York City’s Adopt-a-Highway program.
Westboro Baptist Church first came into the national spotlight in 1998, when it picketed at the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man who was brutally attacked on the night of October 6, 1998, then tied to a fence and left to die.
The church is not affiliated with the Baptist denomination or any other Baptist church, and according to various reports, almost all of its members — fewer than 100 — are related to founder Fred Phelps either by blood or marriage
