(Topeka, KS) -- Members of Westboro Baptist Church were outnumbered by counterprotesters at Cross Point Church on Sunday and left within minutes of arriving.
News of the Westboro Baptist members' plans to picket at the Charlotte Avenue church flooded social media sites, resulting in a counterprotest of about 150 people. Local protesters held up a 50-foot sheet of black plastic to shield Westboro members' picket signs from being seen by Cross Point parishioners. Westboro members returned to their cars and left the area.
"We are not going to welcome hate in our city," said Jason Steen, who rallied counterprotesters together via Facebook. Steen is not affiliated with Cross Point Church
Kansas-based Westboro has attracted national attention and sparked outrage for its anti-gay protests at the funerals of U.S. military members. The group came to Nashville to picket country music singer Carrie Underwood's support for same-sex marriage and the "false prophets of Nashville who taught her to love," its website said.