Kansas church group targets Atlanta

Metro Atlanta

Kansas church group targets Atlanta

Kansas church group brings its campaign of confrontation back to metro Atlanta this week, targeting high school students, Jewish groups and an indie rock festival.

Daniel Kolber (center) talks to Rebekah Phelps-Davis of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church outside the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. Kolber, who happened to be walking by, said he stopped because "I was curious how an intelligent person would engage in such a mean spirited act in the name of helping people."

Bob Pappley with American Legion Post 111 from Dallas, Ga., holds an American flag to counter protest the message from members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, who were protesting across the street in downtown Atlanta. The Jewish Community Centers of North America is holding their Biennial 2010 Leadership Conference at the nearby Marriott Marquis.

Ben Phelps, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, looks across the street as counter-protestors hold messages of love and tolerance. Four adults and two children from the controversial church, which believes God is killing Americans for the country's acceptance of homosexuality, held signs across the street from Douglass High School on Wednesday.

Police and school officials kept the students from Douglass High School in Atlanta from approaching the street where members of the Kansas group were demonstrating.

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Daniel Kolber (center) talks to Rebekah Phelps-Davis of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church outside the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. Kolber, who happened to be walking by, said he stopped because "I was curious how an intelligent person would engage in such a mean spirited act in the name of helping people."

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