Westboro no show at Annenberg

Though the Westboro Baptist Church wrote on its website that it planned to picket The Laramie Project at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Saturday afternoon, no Church protesters arrived on campus.

Widely known for its anti-Semitic and homophobic views, the Church wrote on its website GodHatesFags.com that it planned "to remind everyone that God killed Matthew Shepard," the main subject of The Laramie Project — a gay University of Wyoming student who was murdered in a hate crime in 1998.

"He has been burning in Hell for 12 years now - with eternity left to go," the Church wrote.

Engineering and Wharton junior and Lambda Alliance Chairman Tyler Ernst said, "I wasn't surprised they used [the announcement of a protest] as a scare tactic."

Roughly a dozen students and West Philadelphia residents gathered at Annenberg in the early afternoon to promote acceptance, but Chief of Penn Police Mark Dorsey said the police were not expecting the Church members to arrive. The Philadelphia Police Department's Civil Affairs Unit did not receive official notification from the Church, which members "usually do if they actually plan to come," Dorsey said.

Last December, when the Church protested outside Hillel, it had contacted the city beforehand, Dorsey noted.

Recently the group also scheduled an event to picket at Temple University, but according to Dorsey, it didn't notify the city and ultimately didn't show up.

"As a precaution we prepare in case there are any possible problems," he said while addressing the counter-protesters.

Westboro representatives could not be reached for comment over the weekend.

Wharton junior John Russell, who came to the picket with signs that read "Don't feed the trolls" and "You are entitled to your wrong opinion," said he was not disappointed that there wasn't a protest because confrontation was avoided.

"People came out today and that's what matters," he said. "We're not here to antagonize or be hateful back, we just want to point out certain idiocies."

Penn "is a better place today because they didn't show up," added Engineering junior Sam Panzer.

Nate Houghton, a West Philadelphia resident who heard about the protest on Facebook, said he was only disappointed because he was "excited for the counter-protest and solidarity." He carried a sign that read, "I'm so gay for God."

"It's good to know that various entities are in this together," Dorsey said. "But it's a peaceful situation, safe and secure."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.