Westboro Baptist Church is at again and this time the controversial group is targeting celebrated poet Maya Angelou. Angelou died on Wednesday, May 28 and Westboro has announced plans to picket the funeral.
They made the announcement in a series of tweets labeling Angelou as a "Gay rights champ," "God defier," "Sin enabler" and "Fresh inhabitant of Hell." Westboro asked their Twitter followers to pass along any information they had regarding Angelou's funeral.
"No RIP Maya Angelou. She was a staunch devil child who esteemed the love of the world more than the honor of God," one tweet read.
The group also posted pictures of the poet and author to their Twitter page with captions like, "Honor God! Not the Dead" and "I Should Have Served God! Oops." Westboro Baptist Church is known for their radical and offensive behavior.
According to The Grio, the church picketed Whitney Houston's funeral in 2012 because they felt like she didn't use her voice to spread the word of God. KFOR-TV reports that funeral arrangements for Angelou have not been revealed yet but the Mount Zion Baptist Church in Winston-Salem will hold a memorial service on Thursday. The memorial service will be open to the public.
Angelou died on May 28 at the age of 86. Her publicist, Helen Brann, confirmed the news to different media outlets early Wednesday morning.
"She'd been very frail and had heart problems, but she was going strong, finishing a new book," Brann told ABC News. "I spoke to her yesterday. She was fine, as she always was. Her spirit was indomitable."
Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said Angelou was found in her home by her caretaker, Fox8.com reports. Due to health complications, Angelou was forced to cancel a scheduled appearance. She apologized for having to miss the event on Facebook, writing, "An unexpected medical emergency caused me the greatest disappointment in having to cancel my visit to the Major League Baseball Civil Rights Game ceremony. I am so proud to be selected as its honoree. However, my doctors told me it would be unadvisable for me to travel at that time. My thanks to Robin Roberts for speaking up for me and thank you for all your prayers. I am each day better."
According to Fox, she was scheduled to receive the "Beacon of Life Award" at the 2014 MLB Beacon Award Luncheon on May 30 in Houston, Texas.
