Westboro Baptist Church targets Indy 500

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church have revealed plans to protest one of Indianapolis’ most popular and beloved traditions — the Indianapolis 500.

Their targets are Jim Nabors and cold beer.

“WBC will picket the 98th Indianapolis 500 … to warn this generation and the roughly 300,000 people that attend the race to repent or perish,” reads a press release issued by the church Sunday.

In the weeks following the death of founder Fred Phelps — who died March 19 at age 84 — the Topeka, Kan.-based church has continued to spreadits gospel by picketing military funerals, pop concerts and memorial services held in remembrance of those killed in natural disasters.

Their primary message continues to be that God hates the United States for its tolerance of homosexuality. They take issue with the Indianapolis 500 because Nabors, an openly gay man who recently married his partner of 39 years, will sing “(Back Home Again in) Indiana” prior to the start of the race for the final time.

The church also isn’t fond of the beer that many race fans may be drinking on the day of the event.

But come race day, a group of Indianapolis residents plan to counter the controversial church by holding a peaceful demonstration of their own.

“It seems to me these people get so much spotlight for what they do when really, Christianity is all about love and accepting others because none of us are perfect,” said Chad Christopher, one of the two hosts of a Facebook event titled “Spread love over Westboro Baptist hate: INDY.”

“Our plans day of are to get a group to meet beforehand, and the rest come when you can. We will have signs encouraging love and acceptance,” Christopher said. “We do not intend to interact with the WBC members. Should they taunt us, we will just look on with smiles. This is in no way an attack on them … we love them just the same as we do all people.”

Danika Lakay Ennis learned of the WBC protest Tuesday and created the Facebook group. She said her motivation was the overwhelmingly negative attention that the church’s actions bring to Christians.

“I felt it was (the) responsibility of Indy residents to show WBC and Indy 500 attendees that what we do stand for is the incredible love and acceptance we are shown by Jesus,” Ennis said. “Free love, hugs, smiles and high-fives is what we’re going for.”

Protesting at funerals and other profound events has been the church’s focus since Phelps protested at a local park in 1991 after a city refused to stop “gay activities” there.

Their signs and beliefs garnered a “hate group” label from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The church, founded in 1955, claims to have picketed 53,000 events.

However, the WBC does not always make good on their high profiles promises to picket.

A day after 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 20 Newtown, Conn., first-graders, six school workers, his mother and himself on Dec. 14, 2012, church members took to social media claiming that they would picket the vigil for victims of the mass killing. After a monumental public backlash — which included hacker group Anonymous releasing the addresses of church members — they did not attend.

In their first protest after their founder’s death, church members went to Kansas City on March 21 to protest a concert headlined by New Zealand pop star Lorde. Their messages of hate were met with a positive counter-protest as concert-goers held up sings that read “Sorry for your loss,” referencing the passing of Phelps.

This is also not the first time the group has set its sights on a high profile event in Indianapolis. They picketed at two Indianapolis-area churches and outside Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday afternoon before the start of Super Bowl XLVI.

They also protested North Central High School’s 2009 production of The Laramie Project, a play about the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student.

USA Today contributed to this article.