General

Internet hackers ‘Anonymous’ repost personal information of hate group

And another hacker has hijacked the Twitter account of the WBC’s spokesperson

Exterior of the Westboro Baptist Church. The church marquee is vandalized with red spray paint with the words, "God Hates The Phelps." (Michael S. Williamson/Getty)

After the independent American Westboro Baptist Church tweeted that they would be picketing the funerals of the 20 children who were murdered on Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the Internet hacking collective Anonymous reposted the church members personal and professional information, reports The Inquisitr.

Members of the church began tweeting less that 48 hours after the Newtown shooting that  they would picket the funerals:  “Westboro will picket Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgement,” tweeted one member. The WBO is known for picketing the funerals of gay soldiers, victims of gay hate crimes and for targeting Jewish institutions. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Connecticut since 2008.

Newtown State Police has reacted by assigning a trooper to each of the victim’s familties, says The Inquisitr.

Early on Dec. 15, The Inquisitr received an email from whom they believe to be a member of Anonymous:

“Just hacked Westboro’s site. Freedom of speech is one thing. But freedom to hate is another. A domain such as “godhatesfags.com should not exist, despite rumblings of members picketing Sandy Hook. Those families have enough anguish to deal with.”

The Inquisitor reports that judging from the Internet’s response, “the public strongly supports Anonymous by a ninety nine-to-one majority,” despite the hackers’ illegal activities.

This isn’t the first time that Anonymous has targeted the Topeka, Kansas-based WBC, whose members are largely related to or are of one Phleps family. They’ve repeatedly hacked the church’s website. A few days after the church boasted that their website was protected by God on a radio show, Anonymous hacked into it while the WBO was still on the air.

UPDATE: It appears as though other hackers have joined Anonymous in their Robin Hood-like fight to bring down the WBC: Earlier this afternoon, @Cosmothegod “hijacked the personal Twitter account of WBC spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper and retweeted several posts about his victory,” reports Casey Johnson for ArsTechnica: “Anonymous’s official Twitter account also claims that its members managed to change Phelps-Roper’s desktop background to gay porn, uncovered alleged social security numbers of key WBC members through the doxing process, and successfully filed for a death certificate for Phelps-Roper.”

 

 

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