PUBLIC PROTEST

Is the Hacktivist Group Anonymous Bringing Down the Westboro Baptist Church?

A social media campaign may have caused Westboro to drop its planned protest of Internet pioneer Aaron Swartz's funeral

Jan 16, 2013 by Lisa Fine

Staff Writer t

Image: Twitter

Hacktivist group Anonymous may be prevailing in its battle against the Westboro Baptist Church, the controversial group known for picketing the funerals of U.S. soldiers, or anyone else killed by what they deem to be "God's judgment."

Anonymous seems to have scared off the Westboro Baptist Church from attending its planned protest Tuesday of the funeral service for Internet pioneer Aaron Swartz, the 26-year-old inventer of RSS and co-founder of Reddit, who committed suicide.

A social media campaign launched by Anonymous asked for people to turn out and form a human shield between Westboro and the funeral procession for Swartz, an activist who pushed for web content to be free and open to the public, the Huffington Post reports.

A crowd showed up to the funeral home in Highland Park, Ill., ready to help, but Westboro's lawyer contacted local police to say the group would not be picketing the funeral after all, Huffington Post wrote.

Perhaps Westboro is a little battle-worn after its last run-in with Anonymous over the church's plans to protest the funerals of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last month. In response, Anonymous took over the Westboro Twitter account and published the names and personal contact information of church members online. Anonymous also circulated a petition on the White House's "We the People" site calling for Westboro's tax-exempt status to be revoked. The petition has far surpassed the 25,000 signature threshold to get a response from the White House.

Via Huffington Post

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?	Do you think pushback from Anonymous and others will cause Westboro to give up?

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Jan '13

PNWest

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I don't know if Anonymous did it or not. I just know that Westboro Baptist makes both Christianity and Freedom of Religion look bad. The world would be a much better place without them.
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Jan '13

thejimbo

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"Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable." - H.L. Mencken
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Jan '13

Knightkore

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I have to admit I'm with you on this one....and I'm with Anonymous too if Anonymous is responsible....I understand freedom....I understand the Supreme Court ruling concerning them....but seriously you're spot on....they disgrace God Jesus Holy Spirit Christianity and Freedom Of Religion....as well as Freedom Of Speech and Freedom Of Expression....they border on anarchy....
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Jan '13

Denizen_Kate

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@Knightmare - I know you're a Christian and I thank you for taking a stand against this despicable group who do no service to real Christians.
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Jan '13

MarkJM

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Holy Crap, something you and I can agree on. Well said.
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Jan '13

Knightkore

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@Denizen_Kate Thank you....I don't see any redeeming value they have....we do know just how far freedom of speech can be stretched because of them....according that Supreme Court ruling....
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Jan '13

Mogal

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One can only hope...
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Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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I love annonymous for publishing thd addresses of these people. People should start picketing their homes, businesses and funnerals. God would then tell them to stop this crazy nonsense.
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Jan '13

thejimbo

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Anonymous has dubbed this "Operation Angel" http://pastebin.com/PKm921c9 They're also using the Twitter hash tag #OpAngel for updates. https://twitter.com/search...
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Jan '13

MadAmerican

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I really do not get why these people want to inflict further pain on the families by protesting their funerals. How can they declare themselves Christians?
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Jan '13

texas_cutie75

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They are sick people. That's all I can come up with, they are sick, twisted, and demented people!!
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Jan '13

MadAmerican

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@texas_cutie75 I live close to fort knox and as retired military I have witnessed the American Legion Riders running interference at funerals and processions to keep these clowns at bay. What I cannot understand is why states haven't passed laws making a specific area around the funerals off limits to protestors. The constitution gives rights to protest peacefully however if I was ever at a funeral and they started that crap there would be no peace. We have laws keeping protestors away from voting areas, why not funerals and processions. These idiots have to be brainwashed. What they are doing is inhumane.
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Jan '13

texas_cutie75

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@MadAmerican

I agree whole heartedly. You know the second someone did anything to upset a Westboro funeral they would be raising all kinds of hell!! Thank God for the American Legion Riders!!
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Jan '13

PoliticalSpice

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Because tgey are fanatics. Extremist. They inject there craziness into every public debate, and use anything to attack homosexuality, just like some people look for any excuse to attack obama (those of us that do this to bush are of course reasonable people, considering that the westboro baptist church is bush's fault :)
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Post @PoliticalSpice
Jan '13

Dan_Tien

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Why would they picket his funeral anyway? I'm glad to see that their outrageous stunts to attract attention is earning them attention that they can't deal with.
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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Anonymous is a joke and they disgust me as much as wbc.
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Jan '13

thejimbo

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oh really?
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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yes really...they are rogue misguided vigilantes. They are criminals appointing themselves as some high overseer or judge dredd.
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Jan '13

AceLuby

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@cleverusername The same was said about the Founders...
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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@AceLuby no I don't think so. But it is good to know that you are for criminals acting as high overseers. So then when any criminal comes after you then they are justified because what? "The same was said about the Founders"....
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Jan '13
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Jan '13

Souljah

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Maybe..I think it all depends if they're able to get their tax exempt status changed.. If Hacktivists can do that Westboro members will have to actually work and wont have as much spare time to travel to funerals and protest.. Take away their Money that seems to change peoples minds..
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Jan '13

PNWest

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Where does Westboro Baptist get their money? Who in their right mind would donate to that group?
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Jan '13

Souljah

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@PNWest The collections bowl for starters..but I seriously think there are lots of people donating to them through their websites.. they have a few.. put it this way the I'd post the URL but the name of it alone would get my post removed haha godhatesf$gsdotcom.. TERRRIBLE!!
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Jan '13

methinks

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@Souljah I don't know about the collection bowl. Most of the members are Phelps family members. I think there should be protests and riots at Fred's funeral when he kicks the bucket. Sick freaks, all of them!
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Jan '13

Cheenoguy

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@PNWest
I heard once that a lot of their $ over the years that they get a lot of their money from suing people who hit them.
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Jan '13

PNWest

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@Cheenoguy There are plenty of times that I think it might just be worth it to take a poke at those wretched people.
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Jan '13

jessejaymes

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I support anything that can be done legally to stop ALL religion including the Wesboro lunatics. But I do not support hacking.
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Jan '13

PNWest

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Why do you want to stop ALL religion?
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Jan '13

Mogal

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@PNWest good question.
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Jan '13

jessejaymes

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@PNWest Uh because I think religion is the greatest threat to freedom and the possibility of world peace that exists?
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Jan '13

PNWest

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@jessejaymes How does a Hindu or Buddhist threaten world peace? Or my beliefs for that matter? Why shouldn't I have the right to believe whatever I choose to believe? At least as long as I don't try to force them on others.
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Jan '13

cleverusername

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maybe just maybe a threat to world peace is wanting everyone to believe the same thing? strange you said that people having different beliefs are the greatest threat to freedom. freedom
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Jan '13

Realthinker

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We can hope this is true:
http://www.examiner.com/article/westboro-bapt...
The more members they lose the less money will be available for travel. These people are the scum of the earth.
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Jan '13

mimi57

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Good , they need a good scaring and a good kick in the teeth ( if they have any).
This is no Church, this is a hate filled bunch of unpatriotic, hypocrites. Who pick
and choose what they want to believe... and God is no part of any of them. They
may just as well worship at the church of Satan. They're evil.
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Jan '13

Zazziness

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They won't give up but maybe they will change tactics.
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Jan '13

Your_Name_Here

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Most funerals are religious rites and the Westboro freaks should be charged with a hate crime for disrupting them.
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Jan '13

Knightkore

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Unfortunately the Supreme Court didn't see it that way....
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Jan '13

Your_Name_Here

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@Knightmare I'm sure they will get theirs one day.
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Jan '13

sittinduck

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I hope someone brings down this radical group. They are not Christians in my book.
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Jan '13

OhWiseOne

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While I'm glad that the WBC finally got theirs, Anonymous is no better. They are left wing loons who stood side by side with the Occupy clowns. Talk about cowards. At least you can see the faces of the WBC but Anonymous hides their faces. They are also strong advocates for deviant lifestyles like homosexuality.
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Jan '13

NormalFlora

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I would like to see Anonymous take the gloves off and absolutely decimate the church's bank accounts, land title, utility bills etc. I'm not a fan of anarchists, but sometimes bastards like WBC just deserve what only anarchists can do...
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Jan '13

Denizen_Kate

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"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." (Who said that? Too lazy tonight to look it up.:)
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Jan '13

Fishbone345

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They are doing more to Westboro than anyone else at the moment besides those that show up at military funerals to form a wall between the grieving family and the Westboro nutjobs.
Posting about how evil Westboro is, is worth exactly the amount of time it took you to type it.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Edmund Burke

I'm not saying Anonymous is great, they've done some pretty stupid damn things in the past. But, they are doing more about Westboro than anyone else right now.
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Jan '13

RoFroh

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As disgusting as their message is sharing it is not illegal....however anonymous is filled with lawbreakers and openly commits felonies!!!! BOTH GROUPS ARE CRAP AND THE WORLD WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT THEM!!!
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Jan '13

Starsplash

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Anonymouse is fine in my book.

Its comming to the point where major corperations and authorities can do anything they want because they think they are god. These people really think they are kings, paying people off, illegal backroom BS etc.... Anonymouse exposes corruption and the injustices in the world that no one has the courage to face because they are either to small, to weak or know that they will get arrested and sent to prison. Yes, what they do is illegal, but sometimes you need to fight fire with fire.
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Jan '13

RoFroh

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@Starsplash we will just agree to disagree on this one.....anonymous attacks are hurting innocents
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Jan '13

Starsplash

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@RoFroh Corrperations, the governement and institutions are not people.
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Jan '13

RoFroh

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@Starsplash but people work for them and attacks affect them
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Jan '13

Starsplash

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@RoFroh Unfortunatly, the people that are in charge that decides to be corrupt decides the fate of the innocence that works there. But thats what Im saying. Those people dont care. While everyone else has to play by the rules, corrperations and the authorities think they can just hide, manipulate and make up BS and get away with it. If that does happen, that needs to be exposed. If the world is going to make laws, then everyone should be forced to follow them, no exceptions. If someone breaks those laws, then they should be punished.

I really doubt the people that work for them will be fired. The company would just hire someone else and the ex-employees would just be transferred. That is if the ex-employees are innocent.
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Jan '13

MarkJM

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I can only hope they and other groups bring down these hatemongers.
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Jan '13

Jeff_Woehrle

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Worth keeping in mind that Westboro's founder is a democrat.
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Jan '13

HungryJoe87111

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Go Anonymous!!!
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Jan '13

Pgh_Soldier

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Those morons wont quit and I hope this hacking group keeps up the good work!!
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Feb '13

snowdrifter94

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Maybe! What westboro baptist is doing is down right wrong!
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Do you think pushback from Anonymous and others will cause Westboro to give up?

Do you think pushback from Anonymous and others will cause Westboro to give up?