Westboro Baptist Church to Make Appearance at Republican National Convention

Not to be outdone by Trump protesters, the militant, anti-gay group known as the Westboro Baptist Church has applied to demonstrate at the Republican National Convention.

The WBC must be excited about the opportunity to showcase their message at the RNC because they applied on the same day that Cleveland city officials launched the new online permitting process for protest groups, according to cleveland.com.

The Westboro Baptist Church has requested a 5 p.m. slot on July 19th using the designated speakers platform on Public Square. They also applied to install a "public art display" on July 20th at Perk Plaza — one of the two locations in the event zone which allow such installations.

Cleveland.com reports that the group's application was submitted by Rachel Hockenbarger, an attorney who is believed to be the daughter of the late Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church.

To be fair, the WBC also plans to demonstrate at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, she told cleveland.com.

"There is not a nickel's worth of difference between the Republicans, the Democrats, the Libertarians or anything else they want to call themselves," she said. "The message is going to be the same at the Democratic National Convention as it is at the Republican National Convention."

The WBC lists its presentation on permit applications as a "religious demonstration," they plan to send five people to Cleveland.

Hockenbarger said she has not received any word from Cleveland City Hall about her permit request.

It is also unknown if Ohio native Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters plan to Rick-Roll the Westboro Baptist Church at the RNC in Cleveland — no permits have been filed for Rickrolling as of this writing.

[Image Credit: JCWilmore Wikimedia Commons]