Westboro Baptist Church counter-protest at East High champions love over hate (PHOTOS)

Surprise, surprise: Protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church, who often threaten to picket certain locations and then fail to show up, actually brought their vile circus to East High School this morning as scheduled. And students and others who reject the WBC's messages of intolerance were ready with a dose...

By Michael Roberts

November 7, 2011

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Surprise, surprise: Protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church, who often threaten to picket certain locations and then fail to show up, actually brought their vile circus to East High School this morning as scheduled. And students and others who reject the WBC's messages of intolerance were ready with a dose of peace and love.

"Those East kids -- one of whom is my son -- were amazing," e-mails Emily Sinclair, who shared her photos of the event, in which dozens of students faced off against four to six WBC haters. She notes that there were "long Facebook conversations all weekend about how to best address this visit." The students "were endearingly loyal to East and wanted to 'look good' for their school," she adds. "Lots of conversations about religion, how to handle antagonists, what the right messages were for their posters.

"The principal, deans I spoke with, cops, etc., were totally behind them and thought the students were upbeat, restrained and smart about this protest," Sinclair notes. "They're making some fine people over there on the Esplanade."

Look below and page down to see more of Sinclair's photos.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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