Westboro Baptist Church Plans to Picket Sandy Hook Vigil, the Internet Reacts

The Westboro Baptist Church has long made history for its hate agenda and for the way it chooses to let Americans know that God pretty much “hates” them. Perhaps it should be of little surprise that the WBC has announced plans to picket the vigil for the 20 children and 6 teachers killed in Newtown, Connecticut.

The WBC is often in the habit of picketing funerals of dead soldiers with placards saying that God killed them because He “hates fags.” It has also picked fights with openly gay artists or simply pop stars who are too famous for its liking.

Now, the Church has chosen to preach in the most insensitive, shameful manner possible: by picketing the vigil for the victims of the Newtown shootings, The Huffington Post reports.

The announcement was made just hours before the vigil, which took place last night but, as of now, there’s no word on whether the WBC members actually went ahead with the plan.

It originated with the founder of the group, Fred Phelps, and was confirmed by WBC spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper.

Both said that “God sent the shooter,” and that all those people died because God willed it so to teach Americans a lesson as to what happens when they endorse gay relationships, divorce, adultery, and so on.

A video statement from the group is also embedded below, but *please note that it may be considered offensive for a variety of reasons.

Within minutes after the WBC announcement, the Internet had already reacted and was rallying for counter-protests.

Hacktivist group Anonymous openly declared war on the group, while various petitions started making the rounds online, one of which aimed to have the WBC officially recognized as a hate group.

On Twitter and Facebook, people from Newtown tried to get others involved in a silent counter-protest, one that would allow the vigil to take place without a hindrance, as the victims and the victims’ families deserved.

For the time being, the only info available about the vigil concerns the President’s speech, which you can see in full here.

Keep an eye on this space for updates.