Westboro Baptist Church’s Facebook page was “brand jacked” Wednesday after making plans to protest at the funerals of Boston Marathon bombing victims.
Online “hactivist” group Anonymous took responsibility for posting comedic videos, memes, and changing the church’s profile on a parody page, including backdating posts, the Clarion Ledger wrote.
The Kansas-based, extremist church is known for picketing military and civilian funerals, claiming that the wars in the Middle East and tragedies at home are a result of God punishing the nation for its acceptance of homosexuality. It announced after the bombing on Twitter, “Thank God for the Boston Marathon Bombs!” and that it would picket the funerals of those killed.
It also wrote “Boston what you call ‘senseless act of terrorism’= foretaste of God’s wrath.” Since the bombing, the church has also posted updates with hash tags such as #ThankGod4BostonBombs and #RepealFagMarriage.
Anonymous fought back on Twitter and warned the church of repercussions. Since then, Westboro’s Facebook page has been flooded with video clips, photos making fun of the church, music videos, and a complete overhaul of its “about” section. The church leaders are listed as gothic rocker Marilyn Manson, Anonymous, and Captain Crunch. It also created a Youtube channel and two Twitter handles.
Supporters of Anonymous also took to the site to cheer on the group.
“Much love Anon, this makes their page actually intelligent and tolerable,” one wrote.
The church did not acknowledge Anonymous on its website, GodHatesFags.com. Members plan to picket a memorial Thursday morning in Boston.
This was not the first run in with Anonymous for Westboro. When they threatened to picket at a memorial for Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, the hacktivists posted all the member’s personal information online and hacked their site while calling in live on the church’s radio broadcast, according to the Huffington Post.