A US jury ordered an evangelical church Wednesday to pay nearly 11 million dollars in damages for picketing the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq and claiming the war was punishment for tolerating gays.
The nine-member federal jury ruled that members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church caused mental suffering to Albert Snyder, who says he became depressed after they paraded outside the funeral of his 20-year-old son Matthew in 2006.
They waved signs reading "Thank God for dead soldiers," and "Fag troops." A video of the protests was played in court during the week-long trial of Fred Phelps, who founded the church in 1955, and two of his daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis.
Their lawyer Jonathan Katz said the funeral was a public event and their actions were protected by the constitutional rights to free speech and religious expression. The church says the United States is losing troops because it tolerates gays, including in the military - hence the many protests it has held at military funerals such as Snyder's.