Aug. 6 (UPI) — The controversial Westboro Baptist Church, based in Kansas, claimed that Hawaii will be “utterly destroyed” on Sunday.
“The churches of Hawaii have doomed the inhabitants with lies about the eternal God,” Westboro Baptist Church said in a statement announcing a protest at three churches in Hawaii. “The watchers must (and will) publicly pronounce the warning on Sunday.”
The Westboro Baptist Church said its members will picket outside of Grace Bible Church and King’s Cathedral in Kahului as well as Wailuku Union Church in Wailuku.
It was not immediately clear why the church would travel from Topeka to Maui to protest the three congregations or how the church believes Hawaii will be destroyed. UPI has reached out to the churches for comment.
Westboro has become well-known for its controversial protests. In 2012, the church said its members planned to picket Sandy Hook Elementary School where 28 people, including 20 children, were shot dead just days previously.
“Westboro will picket Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment,” member Shirley Phelps-Roper said in 2012 before her Twitter account was hacked by Anonymous’ Cosmo the God.