As Westboro Baptist Church members staged a protest in the rain Sunday, local residents of the Moore, Oklahoma town also lined the streets to raise their protests back at the church.
Members of Westboro Baptist Church turned up at the Central Junior High School holding signs and boards, but were forced to leave as residents intervened to stop their protests.
While Westboro's picket permit was for half an hour this weekend, church members were only able to protest for about eight minutes before local residents began crossing the picket lines to go after the church members.
Police were able to hold back the Moore residents while the WBC members packed their signs in their cars and left.
Dan Eccles, who observed the protests explained how worried he was. "I was afraid of a riot really. I didn't know how long Westboro would stay, which they were smart to leave."
"I thought it was hilarious. I mean I really did," Tina Johnson, another counter-protester, said in a local television news interview. "We sat there and laughed the whole time," she described.
Westboro Church posted footage of their protest on the video social media network, Vine.
Moore's police department reported that no one was arrested or taken into custody after the incident, saying that the crowd remained "relatively respectful."
Kristy Hensley, a counter protester who also holds spiritual beliefs, told KFOR news, "They're judging us because they think that, you know, we deserve what we got you know. But you know, their judgement day will come."
WBC is known for their controversial pickets that have disrupted funerals of U.S. servicemen and celebrities in the past.
This is not the first time the church's protests have angered the local community. On its church website, WBC states that they believe the deadly tornado that struck Oklahoma last year was an example of God displaying his wrath.
In order to inform the public of their personal beliefs, in the past, WBC church members managed to obtain a permit that allowed them to picket in front of a school that housed students affected by last year's tornado.
"It's just sickening, one counter-protester," Amanda Eccles told KFOR-TV. "You know, it's just innocent kids that lost lives and it's sickening for them to even think that way."
