In the wake of yesterday’s bombing at the Boston Marathon, the Westboro Baptist Church—the small yet noisy bunch who gained national attention for picketing the funerals of American soldiers in the name of hating gay people—did what they do: It announced its plans to yell at people attending funerals of Boston Marathon victims for not being godly enough.
The hacker group Anonymous wasn’t a fan of this, so today it threatened the Topeka, Kansas-based church with unspecified retaliation. Earlier today, Anonymous members apparently hacked WBC’s Facebook account, rewriting bio information and plastering its wall with an assortment of meme-heavy images. Update (1:37 a.m. April 17) Earlier today, people on Twitter reported that Anonymous members had apparently hacked WBC’s Facebook account, rewriting bio information and plastering its wall with an assortment of meme-heavy images. Well, it turns out that they, and I, were a little too excited at the possibility. It looks like Anonymous members have been engaged in the brandjacking (read: squatting) of the (bogus) Westboro Baptist Church page for the past four months.
But that doesn’t mean they’re not serving up some amusing posts:
![westboro baptist church anonymous hacking boston marathon](/wp-content/uploads/Westboro-baptist-church-hack-anonymous-1.png)
2. For all the Star Trek fans:
![Star Trek Westboro Baptist Church hack](/wp-content/uploads/Star-trek-westboro-baptist-church.png)
3. Self-explanatory:
![Dark Knight Westboro Baptist Church hack](/wp-content/uploads/Dark-knight-westboro-baptist-church-anonymous.png)
4. Dr. King:
![Martin Luther King Jr. Westboro Baptist Church Anonymous](/wp-content/uploads/martin-luther-king-jr-westboro-baptist-church.png)
5. #YOLO:
![yolo westboro baptist church](/wp-content/uploads/Screen-shot-2013-04-16-at-7.28.28-PM.png)
6. Here’s some Obama:
![Obama westboro baptist church hacking](/wp-content/uploads/Obama-westboro-baptist-church-hack.png)
7. Now have some Condi:
![Condoleezza Rice Westboro Facebook hack](/wp-content/uploads/Condoleezza-Rice-Westboro-Baptist-Church-Anonymous-hacking.png)
8. And the obligatory cat:
![Cat Westboro Baptist Church Anonymous](/wp-content/uploads/Cat-Westboro-Baptist-church.png)
9. “POKEMON ABUSE“:
![Pokemon abuse Westboro Baptist Church facebook hack](/wp-content/uploads/Pokemon-abuse-Westboro-Baptist-Church.png)
10. And finally some Austin Powers:
![Austin Powers Westboro Baptist Church](/wp-content/uploads/Austin-Powers-Westboro-Baptist-Church-Facebook-Anonymous-Hacking.png)
This isn’t the only time Anonymous has targeted the Westboro Baptist Church. In mid-December, after WBC announced that they would crash the Newtown funerals, the online collective apparently hacked the church’s website (the predictably titled godhatesfags.com) and the Twitter feed of Westboro-er Shirley Phelps-Roper. It also posted church members’ personal information online.