Westboro Baptist Church Plans Protests at Malibu Churches

Westboro Baptist Church, a fundamentalist anti-gay group known for protesting military funerals, plans to picket three Malibu churches later this month, according to its website.

The pickets are planned for 8:45 to 11 a.m. Feb. 24, starting at Malibu Presbyterian Church, moving to Waveside Church and ending at Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church.

The Kansas-based group, which is also planning protests Santa Monica High School and at the Academy Awards, says the protests are "to remind this nation that they need to worship the one true God instead of these vain movie stars" and "Hollywood freaks."

The group regularly plans protests but fails to show up. When the demonstrations are held, they often draw counter-protests.

An official from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Lost Hills/Malibu Station said the department is aware of the protest plans. 

On its website, Westboro says it will "picket the Malibu Presbyterian Church which burned to ground by an angry God in the 2007 wildfires for their disobedience to His standards. Rather than acknowledge that this event occurred at the hands of an angry God and REPENT, on their website, they brag that this adversity brought 'passion, unity and determination.' Let's break that down now."

The group also took issue with Waveside Church's message that all are welcome, posting: "Does this mean they will welcome WBC members with their glorious picket signs of Gospel truth? Something tells me this is a lie and the only people welcome at Waveside are those that will tell each other is it is OK to sin their lives away."

The group plans to protest Our Lady of Malibu, describing the Catholic church as a "pedophile machine masquerading as a church."

Calls to all three churches were not immediately returned.

- Santa Monica Patch Editor Jenna Chandler contributed to this report.