The Rev. Fred Phelps of the Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church is again threatening to hold anti-gay protests in Blacksburg, including one in front of a synagogue.

The controversial religious group is known for protesting against homosexuality at the funerals of AIDS victims and military dead and has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group.

Phelps' followers notified town officials in a letter Monday that the group planned demonstrations at three locations around town, including the Blacksburg Jewish Community Center and Blacksburg High School.

Another location, near the Virginia Tech campus, was also identified.

The letter requests police protection for its members and promises that its protests will be peaceful and respectful of the law.

A Facebook page advertising a counterprotest organized by Tech students and others had drawn more than 4,500 members by Thursday afternoon. More than 1,500 of those members indicated they would attend a counter-rally.

Blacksburg officials are working on a plan to ensure the Westboro group can peacefully exercise its First Amendment rights, Town Attorney Larry Spencer said.

Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Brenda Blackburn said Thursday she and her staff would "work very closely with law enforcement and take their lead" in planning for the demonstration.

The high school, which has been closed since the gymnasium collapsed on Feb. 13, is currently unused.

The Blacksburg protests are also listed at the church's Web site, www.godhatesfags.com.

According to the site, the group holds similar protests daily across the country in opposition to growing acceptance of homosexuality in American culture. It preaches that such tolerance has turned God against the nation.

The group views the deaths of soldiers overseas and other tragedies as proof of God's disdain for America. Followers have said that President Obama is the biblical Antichrist and called on Jews to repent for the killing of Jesus.

Church members recently picketed without incident in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Spencer said.

After the April 16, 2007, shootings at Tech, Phelps threatened to protest at the funerals of the 32 students and faculty slain that day. Then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell, now the governor, issued a warning that anyone willfully disrupting funerals in Virginia could face charges. Those protests never materialized.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case in October that will decide whether the group's anti-gay protests at funerals of American soldiers are protected by the First Amendment.