Church offers $5,000 reward; Phelps calls Reno

Westboro Baptist Church on Tuesday announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of people responsible for an explosion outside the home of a daughter of the Rev. Fred Phelps Sr.

Phelps, pastor of the church, also called upon U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for federal intervention under civil rights laws.

Phelps said he had left a phone message at Reno’s office, and that he was awaiting a return call from the attorney general herself to discuss what protection can be offered to Westboro Baptist Church members in the wake of Sunday night’s blast.

“I don’t want to talk to some underling,” Phelps said. “Not when it reaches the bomb level.”

Phelps said his church has been vandalized 27 times by people who have, among other things, shot out a glass-plated message board, painted outer walls, and thrown eggs and bricks through windows.

Phelps, who regularly joins church members picketing against homosexuals, said Sunday’s explosion marked a new level of violence.

“A bomb is another dimension,” he said. “It’s a far more serious dimension.”

According to police reports, a bomb exploded at 11:20 p.m. Sunday at 3640 S.W. Churchill. The home, which is adjacent to Westboro Baptist Church property, is occupied by the family of Brent Roper and Shirley Phelps-Roper, who is one of Phelps’ daughters. The couple has eight children, ranging in age from 4 days old to 16.

No one was injured. However, items were shaken off the north upstairs and downstairs walls of the residence.

The Topeka police and fire departments responded to the scene. The explosion is being investigated by the Topeka Fire Department.

Phelps said if the acts of vandalism against his church had been experienced by a black congregation or a Jewish synagogue, there would be a public outcry against it.

Instead, Phelps said, when his church is vandalized, the public takes a “ho-hum” attitude, because “the media have largely decided to vilify us because of what they call hate-mongering.” He said his church is the victim of a “double-standard.”

Phelps says he is only doing what he has done for 48 years.

“Old-time religion is all I’ve been preaching,” he said.

Besides calling on Reno to approve, federal intervention on behalf of his church members, Phelps also demanded that Topeka Police Chief Gerald Beavers approve increased protection for his church members.

Beavers on Tuesday said Phelps has demanded beefed-up security “from day one” from the police department.

“We’re not his private security,” Beavers said. “We evaluate the situation and provide extra security where necessary. I am not going to give him a security guard for him and every member of his family throughout their lives. If there is information that says extra security needs to be given, we will give it. We will not give it just because he demands it.”