Westboro Baptist plans to protest funeral for Orlando victims

But the funerals were protected by a group of guardian angels; counter-protestors arrived wearing angel costumes with giant wings in an attempt to block Westboro from making their presence felt.

The Kansas-based church, through a lawyer, sent a letter to the Orlando Police Department spelling out plans to protest outside the Cathedral Church of St. Luke on Saturday from 10:15 a.m.to 11 a.m. Westboro members are known for protesting outside the funerals of gays and lesbians. And as Helsinger explains, angel wings have been used on previous occasions to protect people from anti-gay protesters. Then, as the afflicted communities mourn their dead, the Westboro Baptist Church ride in to foul the situation further with their patented brand of religiously-motivated vitriol.

Police formed a line between the Westboro protesters and the hundreds of funeral attendees, who included members of the LGBTQ community, priests, bikers, and locals.

Another counter-demonstrator, Wesley Wizner, came to stand outside the funeral with a huge rainbow screen.

“We originally made it as large as possible because we didn’t know the location, we wanted to make sure we could block the [Westboro Baptist Church] signs”, Wesley Wizner, one of the counterprotesters, told the BBC.

Christopher was 32 when he was killed at the Pulse gay club in Orlando last week. More than a thousand people attended a candle-light vigil in Berlin to show solidarity with the victims of the attack and their families.

Authorities have said Mateen paused a number of times during his three-hour siege at the Pulse nightclub to place cell phone calls to emergency 911 dispatchers and to post internet messages professing support for various Islamist militant groups. The incident is considered the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

“Let’s shower them with our love”.