By M. Alex Johnson, msnbc.com
Updated at 4:40 p.m. ET: Bobby D, the host of the Seattle radio show where Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps Jr. spoke, writes on the show's site that he offered Phelps the opportunity because "it's about the family":
You think I WANT to have these people on a show that I have worked so hard at perfecting to my liking? ?NO way. ?Having said that, I care about people and I DO NOT want them at a place that needs to be peaceful and a time ONLY for grieving and remembering.
Original post: Westboro Baptist Church, the virulently anti-gay group known for protesting at military funerals, has canceled its plans to protest the funeral Saturday of the two young boys who were killed last weekend by their father, Josh Powell.
The church, which is based in Topeka, Kan., had asserted that the deaths of Charlie and Braden Powell were payback from God over the Washington Legislature's recent endorsement of same-sex marriage.
A radio talk show offered the church time to express its views on his program if it agreed to call off the protest. After Fred Phelps Jr., founder of the church, was interviewed on the program, he tweeted that the protest had been called off.?
(An earlier version of this post misidentified the radio show. It was the Bobby D Show based in ?Seattle and Tacoma, not the show of the same name by a host in Belleview, Fla.)
More than 1,800 people had sounded off on Facebook pledging to join Occupy Seattle in showing up at a counterprotest at Life Center Church in Tacoma, south of Seattle.?
The Powell family asked anyone who didn't intend to celebrate the boys' lives to stay away from the service Saturday morning, which NBC station KING-TV reported will be open to the public. The church plans to live-stream the service.
Police also ask people not attending the service to stay home.?
Cops: Powell computer depicted parent-child sex
Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, died Sunday when their father, Josh Powell, set fire to his home in Graham, near Tacoma. Authorities said Powell, who was already under investigation in the disappearance of his wife in Utah two years ago, attacked his sons with an ax before all three died in the fire and explosion.
Westboro has protested at military funerals and public schools across the country to advance its contention that God hates homosexuality and is punishing the U.S. because of it. It takes an over-the-top confrontational approach to opponents and the media, ensuring that it generates attention wherever it shows up.?
Friday, Phelps' daughter, Margie, tweeted after the announced cancellation that she was looking forward to counterprotesters' showing up at the funeral even though the protest had been canceled:
"imagine noisy mob Sat.raging in vain! Chuckle."
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