Westboro Baptist Church’s Shirley Phelps-Roper, along with several other prominent members, announced on Twitter Sunday that they would be “singing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment” at the funerals of the Sandy Hook shooting victims.
It is unclear if they will actually be present, as the hate group is known for planning pickets and then not showing up, as they did after the Aurora, Colorado shooting, the Inquisitr reported.
Westboro Baptist Church is known for picketing soldiers’ funerals in protest of gay marriages, which they believe is the source of the world’s evils.
Hackers collective Anonymous responded swiftly to the picketing rumor, posting church members’ information online, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses, msnNOW reported.
There are also efforts being pulled together for counter protests to create “walls of love” around the funeral-goers, including one by Angel Action, a group that has volunteers dress in 10-foot wings to surround and shield the WBC’s targets.
“Westboro Baptist Church is planning another attack of hateful words, protesting the funerals of the 20 children and 7 adults who died yesterday at Sandy Hook elementary school,” Taylor Starr and Kelly Shannon, the group’s Sandy Hook organizers, wrote in a posting, according to the Daily Mail. “You can not fight hate with hate, so continuing in Romaine Patterson’s footsteps, if they do come here and try to protest we are going to put forth Angel Action.”
“Let’s not let more hate and sadness attack the already devastated family and friends of those who were lost,” they added.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Church’s picketing of funerals is legal, according to the Examiner, but some cities have passed laws that require protesters to stay a certain distance away from funerals.
Christians? Though I am not personally a Christian, I do understand the dogma. These people are not Christians. They may think they are, but their actions are hardly Christ-like. I would imagine the majority of Christians would see them as more closely following their Devil’s agenda.