Satanists to Face Legal Action After Desecrating Grave of Westboro Baptist Founder's Mother
A Satanist group will face legal action after performing a "Pink Mass" on the grave of the mother of Westboro Baptist Church's founder.
The New York-based Satanic Temple will likely be charged with trespassing after going to the burial place of Fred Phelps' mother in Meridian, Miss.
The location of the burial site was Magnolia Cemetery. Captain Dean Harper of the Meridian Police Department told local media on Saturday that they would look into it.
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"Meridian Police have reached out and spoken to Mr. Arlinghaus of Magnolia Cemetery," said Harper to ABC News 11.
"We are in the process now of constructing affidavits and warrants against these individuals, and we will have them arrested as soon as we can."
Last week, members of the Satanic Temple descended upon the final resting place of Catherine Johnston, mother of WBC head and founder Fred Phelps.
The Temple members had same-sex couples make out on the tombstone of Johnston, with one individual wearing horns as he oversaw the ceremony.
Lucien Greaves, spokesman for the Temple, said in a statement to the Gauntlet that the event was held with the intention of changing Johnston into a lesbian in the hereafter.
"The Satanic Temple now believes that Fred Phelps must believe that his mother is now gay, in the afterlife, due to our Pink Mass. ... And nobody can challenge our right to our beliefs," said Greaves.
"We decided that a same-sex couple celebrating ceremony at the grave-site of Fred Phelps' mother was an appropriate way to meet the Westboro Baptists, 'in spirit,' but this time on our terms."
Bill Arlinghaus, owner of Magnolia Cemetery, would file charges against the Temple for trespassing and indecent exposure.
"They are not welcome to perform disrespectful ceremonies. ... This is the actions of a few, and I don't want to give them overly too much attention because that's really what they're trying to seek," said Arlinghaus to ABC News 11.
The news comes as Westboro Baptist Church recently picketed a One Direction concert in Kansas City, Mo., declaring the band "perverted."
"These freaks and their fans think it's funny for these five perverts to grab each other's asses on stage," stated Westboro last month when they announced their plan to protest.
"They glamorize sin and make a mock of God's standards. Their one purpose is to encourage the youth of this generation to pursue every lust their evil hearts can imagine."
Westboro Baptist Church is based in Kansas and is unaffiliated with any Baptist denomination.
