Phelps’ daughter arrested for son’s actions
9:40 a.m. Wednesday, June 6, 2007
A member of the Kansas church that protests at soldier funerals across the nation was arrested Tuesday after her son stomped on a U.S. flag during a protest in Bellevue.
Shirley Phelps-Roper, 49, of Topeka, Kan., was arrested on suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She was released several hours later on $150 bond.
Phelps-Roper acknowledged that she allowed her 10-year-old son, Jonah, to stand on the flag, an action that she says is protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Bellevue Police Capt. Herb Evers said a 1977 Nebraska statute makes it unlawful for a person to trample on a flag. Violating the law is a misdemeanor punishable by three months in jail and a $500 fine.
Phelps-Roper is a member of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka. She is a daughter of the church’s founder, the Rev. Fred Phelps.
Phelps-Roper said church members have protested at more than 280 military funerals in 43 states since June 15, 2005, and that Tuesday marked her church’s first arrest at a funeral.
The Bellevue funeral was for Nebraska Army National Guard Spc. William “Bill” Bailey, who was killed May 25 when an explosive device struck his vehicle in Iraq.









Comments
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Jun. 6, 2007 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)kansas43us (anonymous)
Good its about time the law can do something to them.
Jun. 7, 2007 at 4:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)GIJOE (anonymous)
THAT IS AWESOME!! GOOD JOB BELLEVUE POLICE DEPARTMENT!! NOW SEND HER TO JAIL!! THAT IS WHERE SHE BELONGS!!
Jun. 7, 2007 at 7:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)armywife1313 (anonymous)
AWESOME! WAY TO GO! All I know is if my husband dies while in Iraq, and those people show up to his funeral, I'll press charges against every last one of them for every law I can find that they might possibly be breaking. You want to protest the war? Go do it at the white house, not at the funeral of someone who died serving his country, making sure that our rights that they so easily hide behind, are protected!
Jun. 7, 2007 at 1:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)PGRmember (anonymous)
Dear armywife1313,
Firstly, we will all hope and pray for your husband's safe return and thank you both for the sacrifices associated with his deployment. If this American hero would die defending our country, don't waste time and money suing these people. Instead, request the services of the Patriot Guard Riders at www.patriotguard.org. Our presence at any military funeral is much more of an aggravation to the WBC than any lawsuit.
The WBC are beyond deplorable. This arrest may only be symbolic, but it is certainly appropriate.
God bless your husband and all those that serve!!
Jun. 7, 2007 at 3:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)rob666 (anonymous)
Great news! This lowest of the low and her father and his evil congregation represent everything wrong with religion. I've heard her spew her hatred of the U.S.A. and gays, etc. on The Howard Stern show for years. Howard has goofed on her for years and she has provided me with many a good laugh. Of course I'm laughing at her absurdity, nothing more. She is as far from God as one could possibly get. Sadly, she truly believes she's doing God's work. People like her are truly dangerous to us all.
Jun. 7, 2007 at 3:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)busy25mom (anonymous)
Armywife1313-
I am writing this comment in regards to your commment that you made and the PGR member that responded to you. First of I have to agree thank you to both you and your husband for the sacrifices you have both made and I pray for a safe return for your husband. I guess the reason that I wanted to respond to you was because I wanted this to come from someone who has been personally effected by the Phelp's people. My husband was killed in action in March and I had his funeral here in Kansas. Well of course before I even got my husband back on U.S. grounds I knew they were going to be here to protest my husband's funeral. I didn't have the chance to contact the Patriot Guard they were calling me. Those are some of the most wonderful people you will ever meet in your life. Because the fact of the matter is most of them have been in the same deal as your husband and my husband. And let me tell you as tragic as the day of my husband's funeral was I knew that I didn't have to worry about them because they were taking care of. And when I came pulling over that hill to the funeral home I was in so much ahhhhh about seeing the American Flags and how many Patriot Guard members were there the phelp's didn't matter to me actually I didn't even see them that day. My suggestion to everyone is to let them be that is exactly what they want is for people to react to them and they want to be in the media. And for me personally I was not going to allow them to do that to my husband or everyone who was here to pay their respects to my husband. THEY ARE NOT WORTH IT! Again thank you Patriot Guard for everything you do. And Armywife good luck to you and your husband I will continue to pray for our troops til they all come home!
Jun. 8, 2007 at 10:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)BBURNSY (anonymous)
See, now she's in jail because God hates her! Nice the shoe is on the other foot! This lady and her followers need to all be put in jail. What they are doing is no worse then any HATE crime and they need to sit behind bars and think about things for a bit.
Jun. 8, 2007 at 2:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)scrump716 (anonymous)
I can't wait until her father or other family member passes away so I can protest and disrupt their funeral services.
Jun. 10, 2007 at 2:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)Linda (anonymous)
Fred and Shirley's cult needs to be stopped in their abominable tracks.
No God would condone this type of behavior. By calling Fred Phelps "Reverend" would be to say he is ecclesiastical, which he is NOT. I would be more secure in saying he could be an anti-Christ and when he dies he will be in the company of Adolf.
The Phelps clan is nothing but a smalltime cult with the smell of rotting flesh following them everywhere they go. I've not seen anything more sad looking since the Jim Jones cult.
Someone needs to put him in a padded cell with a mirror at one end so he can admire himself until he drops out of site from dementia or an "untimely" accident.
That goes for his daughter the lunatic too.
I've heard better "speeches" from the ramblings of people with alzheimers. I guess Shirley and Fred's constant strolls down Crazy Lane of what they perceive as a religion, will keep them AND their incestuous family away from the rest of us. I don't want any of their physical and mental diseases by breathing the same air.
It's a simple fact: Their God, Fred the Fart should be buried in the county landfill along with all the other city's trash. Shirley, lordy you're weird looking!
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