By Beth Day
The new assistant Pottawatomie County attorney is a member of the Topeka Westboro Baptist Church, the crusading anti-LGBTQ organization.
Rachel Hockenbarger is the daughter of the late Fred Phelps, the driving force behind Westboro Baptist. She confirmed in an interview Thursday with The Times of Pott County that she is still an active member of the church.
Westboro Baptist Church is known for its aggressive condemnation of LGBTQ people and for picketing funerals — especially of law enforcement and military — schools, plays and other events around the country, including in Manhattan and Wamego. Its pickets involve people carrying signs with anti-LGBTQ slurs.