In May 2010 , Westboro picketed the funeral of heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio in Los Angeles , saying that they believed the singer worshipped Satan . Dio 's widow urged attendees to ignore the protest , saying " Ronnie hates prejudice and violence . We need to turn the other cheek on these people that only know how to hate someone they did n't know . We only know how to love someone we know . " In January 2011 , Westboro announced that they would picket the funeral of Christina Green , a 9-year-old victim of the 2011 Tucson shooting in which Representative Gabrielle Giffords was also ( non-fatally ) shot . In response , the Arizona legislature passed an emergency bill to ban protests within of a funeral service , and Tucson residents made plans to shield the funeral from protesters . The church canceled plans to hold a protest during the memorial at the University of Arizona in exchange for air time on radio talk shows . According to university officials , between 700 and 1,200 students amassed to counter four WBC picketers who appeared at the campus after the event . Jael Phelps explained to Louis Theroux in her interview for '' America 's Most Hated Family in Crisis '' that she and the other members of the WBC picketed at the funeral of a Muslim man 's wife simply because the man had witnessed and scolded them for intentionally burning a copy of the Quran in public a week earlier
2011 Tucson shooting
2011 Tucson shooting
Westboro Baptist Church