Actor Paul Walker, known for his roles in the popular Fast and the Furious series, died in a car crash Saturday. According to the controversial Westboro Baptist Church, Walker died because God was mad at him. The group plans on picketing his funeral.
“The furious God cut off Paul Walker! Thank God for His condign wrath! WBC to picket funeral!” the cult church tweeted. “Paul Walker had a duty to live sober, righteous, godly #HeFailed #InHell Wants YOU to heed our warning (Luke 16).”
The WBC Twitter account also posted a photo of Walker with some of their picket signs and wrote above the photo: “God Almighty to Paul Walker: ‘Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.’”
Below the photo it said, “Paul served himself & the gods of this world (money, fame, excess of riot, etc.) while refusing to serve His creator & use his platform to encourage his neighbors to do the same. He’s in Hell & Westboro will #PicketFuneral.”
Walker, 40, reportedly grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California and later became a Christian.
“I’m a Christian now,” Walker said, according to his biography on imdb.com. “The people I don’t understand are atheists. I’m always around nature. I look at everything and think, ‘Who couldn’t believe there’s a God? Is all this a mistake?’ It just blows me away.”
The actor’s 15-year-old daughter, Meadow, recently moved to California from Hawaii to spend more time with him.
Walker said in an August interview with GQ that he had planned to reassess his life after turning 40 and possibly go in a completely different direction from acting, but his daughter encouraged him to continue acting.
“I thought at this point in my life I would need to be home with her,” Walker told GQ, “but she wants me to keep acting so she can travel around the world with me. Would that be so bad?”
“Thing is,” he continued, “I went to a born-again Christian high school, was brought up in a traditional Mormon family where these ideas about parenting are of structure and sacrifice. To think outside of that idea of family and parenting that I’ve grown up with is tough, but also very freeing.”
In addition to his faith and being a dedicated father, Walker was also known for his heart for helping others. On the day of his death, he was attending a charity event for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan for his organization Reach Out WorldWide.
He founded the charity, which provides disaster relief, after an earthquake devastated Haiti in January 2010.
“With the passing of Paul, the world has lost a man who spent a great deal of his life in service to others,” said Donna Langley, chairperson of Universal Pictures, in a statement Tuesday. Universal is the studio behind the Fast and the Furious movies.
“We share in the deep grief of his family, friends and the countless fans who love him,” Langley continued. “We keep Paul’s memory alive and honor his legacy through continued support of Reach Out WorldWide, the nonprofit he founded to give hope to those who must rebuild after they have experienced natural disasters.”
Walker died when the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT driven by his friend Roger Rodas, who also died, smashed into a light pole and a tree and then exploded into flames, NBC Chicago reports.
An autopsy released Wednesday confirmed that Walker was killed by impact and fire. Results of toxicology testing will take six to eight weeks.
Walker’s family has asked that grieving friends and fans donate to Reach Out WorldWide in lieu of sending flowers.
“It’s comforting for them to know that the son, brother and father they love so much is equally adored, respected and appreciated by so many,” the actor’s family said in a statement. “Paul founded the organization with the genuine desire to help others, and it’s important to his family to keep his memory alive through ROWW.”
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