Episode Details

In this unforgettable story on The Clay Edwards Show, Clay recounts the legendary day the Westboro Baptist Church rolled into Brandon, Mississippi — and quickly learned what happens when you bring your hate to the South Side of the Kingdom.

Back in 2011, the notorious group announced they were coming to protest the funeral of fallen U.S. Marine Jason Rogers, a hometown hero killed in Afghanistan. What they didn’t count on was a town full of proud Mississippians who weren’t about to let that stand.

Clay details how locals spotted the church vans at a Brandon gas station, how a few good ol’ boys delivered a swift “ass whoopin’” right there in the parking lot, and how the group was later blocked in at their hotel while authorities “checked for warrants.” The result? A homemade Mississippi blueprint for shutting down Westboro protests that spread nationwide — and the church never showed up at another Mississippi funeral again.

Clay also paints the emotional picture of the funeral procession: tens of thousands of people lining Highway 80 from the airport all the way through town, Brandon Fire Department trucks dropping a massive American flag over the intersection, and an outpouring of respect that still chokes him up to this day.

Raw, unfiltered, and full of Mississippi pride — this is the true story of how one small Southern town told the Westboro Baptist Church exactly where they could stick their protest. FAFO at its finest.