Westboro Baptist Church founder dies aged 84

The Rev Fred Phelps Sr, the fiery founder of a small Kansas church who led outrageous and hate-filled protests that blamed almost everything, including the deaths of AIDS victims and US soldiers, on America’s tolerance for gay people, has died.

He was 84.

Daughter Margie Phelps said Fred Phelps, whose actions drew international condemnation, died around midnight on Wednesday. She didn’t provide cause of death or the condition that recently put him in hospice care.