I had my attention drawn to the following passage in the Fred Phelps
article:
"Phelps also wrote a book in the 1980s with his son-in-law, [[Brent D.
Roper]], called ''The Conspiracy''. In the book, Roper and Phelps claim
to possess evidence that [[AIDS]] was spontaneously generated in
[[Africa]]; [[Truman Capote]] contracted the disease during an orgy with
African tribesmen; Capote then gave the disease to [[John F. Kennedy]]
and [[Marilyn Monroe]] by playing [[American football|football]] with
them; and that the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] [[assassin]]ated
all three to prevent the spread of the disease. Phelps published and
distributed the book himself; it was also sold in the back of [[Peter J.
Peters]] catalogue of [[extremist]] literature, and thus became a widely
circulated text among such groups as the [[Ku Klux Klan]], [[Aryan
Brotherhood]], and [[Christian Identity]]."
A similar passage appeared at [[Brent D. Roper]]. I appreciate the
internet isn't the best place to try and source things, but the anon
user 69.154.189.180
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=…
who added the above passages provided one link, which I don't consider a
reliable source, and I haven't turned any good ones up that aren't WP
mirrors on google.
The link in question is
http://blank.org/addict/chapter9.html and
purports to be a transcript of a lawsuit, although it appears, according
to this site, that the lawsuit files have been sealed by the judge.
This info was added to the Phelps article on the 12th July 2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fred_Phelps&diff=prev&old…
and was the basis of the creation of the Roper article on the 12th July
2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brent_D._Roper&oldid=18655128
and has remained pretty much in place ever since, over one year.
I've removed the passages per [[WP:BLP]]. I have no axe to grind here,
as a UK citizen I have no idea who Phelps is, but I feel strongly that
information should be verifiable. That the article on Fred Phelps is
featured, and was featured with the information in, despite there being
no reliable sources provided, suggests flaws in the Wikipedia process.
I'm attempting a wikibreak, details outlined on my talk page, but I want
to bring this to people's attentions. I figure that a large number of
eyeballs from participants on this list directed to the passage I
removed from the Fred Phelps article will ascertain whether it was the
right thing to do, in case I have the wrong end of the stick.
Appreciate people's time here,
Steve block
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