Anonymous targets Westboro, releases addresses, phone numbers

The hacker group Anonymous has targeted the website of Westboro Baptist Church after the church announced plans to protest Sandy Hook Elementary School.

As Digital Journal reported on Saturday, Westboro Baptist Church announced plans to picket the site of Friday's tragic elementary school shooting via their Twitter page. The church is known for protesting the funerals of military personnel killed in action, as well as their anti-gay stance, with a web address of GodHatesFags.com. The announcement of the planned protest did not sit well with members of Anonymous, prompting the launch of OpWestboro. The "operation" included a release of personal details of Westboro members, including home and work addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. A video was also released, informing the church that further action will be taken if they continue to "breed hate". In February 2011, Anonymous claimed Westboro faked a letter in which the hacker group "threatens" the church. During a televised radio talk show, a Westboro spokeswoman claimed the letter was from Anonymous and bragged about foiling the attack. During the show, several of the churches websites were hacked and taken down by another hacktivist Anonymous called "Jester", surprising the church's spokeswoman. During the interview, Anonymous claimed responsibility for hacking downloads.westborobaptistchurch.com while the interview was underway. Plans for additional operations against Westboro have not been announced. However in the video message issued by Anonymous, they say they will: "progressively dismantle your institution of deceitful pretext and extreme bias, and cease when your zealotry runs dry." They continue by saying: "We will destroy you. We are coming deceitful. We are anonymous, we are legion. We do not forgive, we do not forget, expect us."