Westboro Baptist Church Plans to Protest Powell Boys' Funeral
Westboro Baptist Church says its members plan to protest the funeral of Charlie and Braden Powell on Saturday.
The boys, 7 and 5, were killed in a house explosion, when their believed to be set by their father, Josh Powell.
Powell's wife disappeared in 2009. Powell was the only person of interest in his wife's 2009 disappearance. He was arrested in 2011 on charges of voyeurism and child pornography in Washington, while living with his father Steven Powell.
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His children were taken away from him after the arrest. But when a social worker brought the children for a supervised visit, Powell locked the social worker out of the house, which exploded minutes later.
SEE VIDEO OF EXPLOSION THAT KILLED POWELL AND HIS TWO KIDS
Before the explosion, Josh Powell left a voicemail with several family members.
"This is Josh. I'm calling to say goodbye. I am not able to live without my sons and I'm not able to go on anymore. I'm sorry to everyone I've hurt. Goodbye," the voicemail said.
The funeral may turn into a heated protest.
Hundreds of people are planning on attending solely with the mission to keep the Westboro Baptist Church members from disrupting the funeral, according to reports.
The funeral is slated to take place in Tacoma, Wash. at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The church members plan to protest the funeral to protest the recent gay-marriage legislation expected to be signed into law by Gov. Christine Gregoire.
"This is why God's cursed you (with) Josh Powells blowing up kids," Margie J. Phelps tweeted.
An online petition is circulating in an attempt to drum up enough support and enough people to form a barrier around the funeral to block the church members.
It something that Josh Powell's sister, Alina, supports.
"Hate has taken far too great a toll on us all already. Please, Stop the hate," she said.
