Editing Westboro Baptist Church (section)

==Responses==
===Laws limiting funeral protests===
In response to the protests conducted by Westboro members at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana Indiana] funerals, a bill was introduced in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_General_Assembly Indiana General Assembly] that would make it a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony felony] to protest within 500 feet (150 m) of a funeral. The bill provides penalties of up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine for those found to be in violation of the law. Shortly before this bill was signed members of the church had threatened to protest in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokomo,_Indiana Kokomo, Indiana], at a funeral service that was being held for a soldier who was killed in Iraq. On January 11, 2006, the bill unanimously (11–0) passed a committee vote, and while members of the church had traveled to Kokomo to protest, they were not seen during or after the funeral service. On May 23, 2006, the state of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan Michigan] banned any intentional disruption of funerals within 500 feet (150 m) of the ceremony. Violating the statute would be a felony, punishable by up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine for the first offense and up to four years in prison and a $10,000 fine for a subsequent offense.

On May 17, 2006, the state of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois Illinois] enacted Senate Bill 1144, the "Let Them Rest In Peace Act", to shield grieving military families from protests during funerals and memorial services of fallen military service members. A first-time violation of the Act is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense, which is punishable by one to three years in state prison and a fine of up to $25,000.<ref>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/chi-quinn-signs-let-them-rest-in-peace-act-20110814-story.html Quinn signs Let Them Rest in Peace Act], ''Chicago Tribune''</ref>

On May 29, 2006, President [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush George W. Bush] signed into law the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect_for_America%27s_Fallen_Heroes_Act Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act] ([http://www.law.cornell.edu/jureeka/index.php?doc=USPubLaws&cong=109&no=228 Pub.L. 109–228]), prohibiting protests within 300 feet (91 m) of the entrance of any cemetery under control of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cemetery_Administration National Cemetery Administration] from 60 minutes before to 60 minutes after a funeral. Penalties for violating the act are up to $100,000 in fines and up to one year imprisonment. The bill garnered overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress with a 408–3 vote in the House, with 21 not voting, and a unanimous vote in the Senate.

On January 11, 2011, the state of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona Arizona] held an emergency legislative session to pass a bill barring protests within 300 feet (91 m) of a funeral and within an hour from its beginning or end. The bill was swiftly signed into law ahead of the January 12 funeral of those killed in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting 2011 Tucson shooting].

On August 2, 2012, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress Congress] passed a bill that included restrictions on demonstrators at military funerals, which became law four days later when signed by President Obama. The bill says that for 2 hours before until 2 hours after the funeral service demonstrators must stay at least 300 feet (91 m) away from the boundary of the funeral location and away from the residence of grieving family members.
===Supreme Court case===
On March 10, 2006, WBC picketed the funeral of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine Marine] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Corporal Lance Corporal] Matthew A. Snyder in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminister,_Maryland Westminister, Maryland]<ref>[https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-snyder-v-phelps Facts and Case Summary - ''Snyder v. Phelps''], United States Courts</ref>. The picket was held in a location cordoned off by the police, approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) from the Church, for about 30 minutes before the funeral began. On June 5, 2006, the Snyder family sued for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit named Albert Snyder, Matthew Snyder's father, as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaintiff plaintiff] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps Fred W. Phelps], Sr.; Westboro Baptist Church, Inc.; Rebekah Phelps-Davis; and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Phelps-Roper Shirley Phelps-Roper] as defendants, alleging that they were responsible for publishing defamatory information about the Snyder family on the Internet, including statements that Albert and his wife had "raised [Matthew] for the devil" and taught him "to defy his Creator, to divorce, and to commit adultery". Other statements denounced them for raising their son Catholic. Snyder further complained the defendants had intruded upon and staged protests at his son's funeral. The claims of invasion of privacy and defamation arising from comments posted about Snyder on the Westboro website were dismissed on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution First Amendment] grounds, but the case proceeded to trial on the remaining three counts.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>At the trial, Albert Snyder testified:
They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family. They wanted their message heard and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>In his instructions to the jury, U.S. District Judge [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_D._Bennett Richard D. Bennett] stated that the First Amendment protection of free speech has limits, including vulgar, offensive and shocking statements, and that the jury must decide "whether the defendant's actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, whether they were extreme and outrageous and whether these actions were so offensive and shocking as to not be entitled to First Amendment protection".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-117">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church#cite_note-117 [117]]</sup> See also [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaplinsky_v._New_Hampshire Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire], a case where certain personal slurs and obscene utterances by an individual were found unworthy of First Amendment protection, due to the potential for violence resulting from their utterance.

On October 31, 2007, WBC, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps Fred Phelps] and his two daughters, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Phelps-Roper Shirley Phelps-Roper] and Rebecca Phelps-Davis, were found liable for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A federal jury awarded Snyder $2.9 million in compensatory damages, then later added a decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and an additional $2 million for causing emotional distress (a total of $10,900,000). The organization said it would not change its message because of the verdict.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>WBC said that it was thankful for the verdict, but also unsuccessfully sought a mistrial (based on alleged prejudicial statements made by the judge and violations of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gag_order gag order] by the plaintiff's attorney) and also filed an appeal.

On February 4, 2008, U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett upheld the ruling, but reduced the punitive damages from $8 million to $2.1 million, bringing the total judgment to $5 million. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lien Liens] were ordered on church buildings and Phelps' law office in an attempt to ensure that the damages would be paid.

On September 24, 2009, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of Westboro Baptist Church and reversed the lower court's award. It found their picket near the funeral is protected speech because it involves "matters of public concern, including the issues of homosexuals in the military, the sex-abuse scandal within the Catholic Church, and the political and moral conduct of the United States and its citizens", and did not violate the privacy of the service member's family. On March 30, 2010, the appeals court ordered Albert Snyder to pay the church's court costs of over $16,000, a move that Snyder's attorney's referred to as "adding insult to injury". The decision has led to nationwide support for Snyder, with over 3,000 promises for donations to help offset the cost; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pundit_%28expert%29 political commentator] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_O%27Reilly_%28political_commentator%29 Bill O'Reilly] offered to pay the entire amount of the costs on March 30. The American Legion has also raised $17,000 to help pay Snyder's court costs.

On March 8, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court granted [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certiorari certiorari] in ''Snyder v. Phelps'', (Docket No. 09-751, March 8, 2010). On May 28, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_Majority_Leader Senate Majority Leader] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Reid Harry Reid], joined by 42 other Senators, filed an ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_curiae amicus]'' brief in support of Snyder with the Supreme Court. On June 1, Kansas Attorney General [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Six Stephen Six] filed a separate brief supporting Snyder. This brief was joined by the Attorneys General of 47 other states and the District of Columbia, with Maine and Virginia being the two exceptions. Several news and civil rights organizations filed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_curiae amicus briefs] in support of Phelps, including the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union American Civil Liberties Union], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reporters_Committee_for_Freedom_of_the_Press Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press], and twenty one other media organizations.

In an 8–1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Phelps on March 2, 2011. Chief Justice [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Roberts John Roberts] wrote the majority opinion stating: "What Westboro said, in the whole context of how and where it chose to say it, is entitled to 'special protection' under the First Amendment and that protection cannot be overcome by a jury finding that the picketing was outrageous." Justice [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Alito Samuel Alito], the lone dissenter, said Snyder wanted only to "bury his son in peace". Instead, Alito said, the protesters "brutally attacked" Matthew Snyder to attract public attention. "Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case," he said.
===Other legal responses===
On July 14, 2006, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundy_Township,_Michigan Mundy Township, Michigan] billed the WBC for $5,000. The Westboro church had informed township authorities on June 28 that a protest was planned at the Swartz Funeral Home. The bill to the church ensued, according to the local police chief, because the congregation failed to keep a verbal contract for security. Fred Phelps' daughter claimed that the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Ghost Holy Ghost] had informed them not to fly to Michigan even though they had already purchased airline tickets. Security at the Webb funeral was high; 15 fire trucks were involved, as well as numerous police officers from nearby jurisdictions. The township has now stated that it will not pursue the matter.

===Canadian entry ban===
In August 2008, Canadian officials learned of the WBC's intent to stage a protest at the funeral of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg Winnipeg] man murdered on a bus. The protests intended to convey the message that the man's murder was God's response to Canadian laws permitting abortion, homosexuality, divorce and remarriage.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/westboro-baptist-church-claims-god-hates-canada-in-protest-over-country-s-samesex-marriage-laws-a6707016.html Westboro Baptist Church claims 'God hates Canada' in protest over country's same-sex marriage laws], ''The Independent''</ref> In response, Canadian officials barred the church's members from entering the country.<ref>[https://www.advocate.com/news/2008/08/09/canada-denies-entry-to%C2%A0westboro-baptist-church-members Canada Denies Entry to Westboro Baptist Church Members], ''Gay News''</ref>
===UK entry ban===
In February 2009, UK news sources discovered that WBC had announced on their website that they intended to picket a youth production of ''The Laramie Project'' to be held at Central Studio, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Mary%27s_College Queen Mary's College] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basingstoke Basingstoke] on February 20, 2009. This would have been their first ever picket in the UK.

On the lead-up to the picket, a number of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_of_Parliament MPs], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobby_group lobby groups] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT LGBT] groups appealed to the UK's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Secretary Home Secretary], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqui_Smith Jacqui Smith], requesting these individuals be blocked from entering the UK, on the basis that WBC would be inciting hatred towards LGBT people. On February 18, 2009, two days before the intended picket date, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Office Home Office] announced that [http://real-life-villains.wikia.com/wiki/Fred_Phelps Fred Phelps] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Phelps-Roper Shirley Phelps-Roper] would be specifically [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individuals_banned_from_entering_the_United_Kingdom excluded from entering the UK] for having "engaged in unacceptable behaviour by inciting hatred against a number of communities", and that "other church members could also be flagged and stopped if they tried to enter Britain".<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/4696132/US-Church-which-calls-for-homosexuals-to-be-killed-banned-from-UK.html US Church which calls for homosexuals to be killed banned from UK], ''The Telegraph''</ref>

An alliance of six UK religious groups (the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist_Union_of_Great_Britain Baptist Union of Great Britain], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelical_Alliance Evangelical Alliance] UK, Faithworks, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Church_of_Great_Britain Methodist Church of Great Britain], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Reformed_Church United Reformed Church] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_and_Foreign_Bible_Society Bible Society]-funded thinktank [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theos_%28think_tank%29 Theos]) made a joint statement on February 19, 2009 in support of the government's decision and condemning the activities of the Westboro Baptist Church saying, "We do not share [Westboro's] hatred of lesbian and gay people. We believe that God loves all, irrespective of sexual orientation, and we unreservedly stand against their message of hate toward those communities."

===Counter protests===
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter_protest Counter protests] are often organized to be held at sites that Westboro Baptist pickets. In some cases counter protesters have lined up and turned their backs on the Westboro Baptist pickets.

In 1999, inspired by the murder of Matthew Shepard the previous year, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moore Michael Moore] organized a protest against [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophobia homophobia] for his television show ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Awful_Truth_%28TV_series%29 The Awful Truth]''. He toured states with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-sodomy_law anti-sodomy laws] in the "Sodomobile", a pink bus filled with gay men and women. At one point, they visited the Westboro Church compound and got out to meet Fred Phelps, at which time Moore introduced the Sodomobile to him.

Two days after the September 11 attacks in 2001, a 19-year old man named Jared Dailey stood on the street corner facing the church holding up a plywood sign that said "Not today, Fred". Within two days, 86 people joined him, waving American flags and anti-hate signs.

On December 12, 2008, the group picketed a production of ''The Laramie Project'' at the Boston Center for the Arts. Local activists held a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phelps-A-Thon Phelps-A-Thon] in response. Supporters pledged online to donate for every minute WBC protested. The event raised over $4,600 for an LGBT-rights project, Driving Equality.

In March 2010, a Richmond Virginia ad-hoc group formed to create a counter protest to an upcoming Westboro Baptist Church visit protesting against Jewish and LGBT organizations. Pennies In Protest took pledges for each minute of the WBC protest. The funds (approx. $14,000) were then donated to those same Jewish and LGBT organizations that WBC was protesting.

On December 11, 2010, the day of the funeral of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Edwards Elizabeth Edwards], a group called "Line of Love" planned to have about 200 protesters on the north side of West Edenton Street in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh,_North_Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina] while 10 Westboro members picketed on the south side of the street, two blocks away from the funeral. Westboro members who disagreed with Edwards' tolerance for gays were "promoting awareness of the dangers of homosexuality", Line of Love gave its goal as "promoting proper respect for funerals".<ref>[https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/1211/Why-is-the-Westboro-Baptist-Church-picketing-Elizabeth-Edwards-funeral/Who-are-these-people Why is the Westboro Baptist Church picketing Elizabeth Edwards' funeral?], ''The Christian Science Monitor''</ref>

On February 24, 2011, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacktivism hacktivists] successfully took Westboro Baptist Church's websites down. The church claims this was the work of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_%28group%29 Anonymous], but the group denied responsibility, instead identifying [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jester The Jester] as the culprit. During a live TV confrontation on ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_David_Pakman_Show The David Pakman Show]'' between Shirley Phelps-Roper and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topiary_%28hacktivist%29 Topiary] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LulzSec LulzSec], Phelps-Roper stated that Anonymous could not "stop God's message". In response, Topiary and an accomplice seized control of one of Westboro's subdomains during the confrontation.

On September 16, 2011, when Westboro members picketed a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Fighters Foo Fighters] concert in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City,_Missouri Kansas City, Missouri], the band appeared on a truck float in front of the protesters. Dressed in homo-erotic outfits, they performed their country-parody song "Keep It Clean" – which contained many homosexual references and overtones – from their "Hot Buns" viral video; midway though the song, lead singer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Grohl Dave Grohl] made a speech calling for equality and tolerance. The band uploaded a video of the impromptu performance the next day on their YouTube channel.

After Westboro announced plans to picket funerals of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting on December 14, 2012, hacktivists from Anonymous executed a distributed denial of service attack (DDOS) on the website of the Westboro Baptist Church, GodHatesFags.com, stating: “We will continuously DDOS until they are forced to put their inbred church tithes to use to pay for bandwidth.” Anonymous also simultaneously released a Westboro membership list, with the personal contact information for most Westboro members.

===Actions by opponents===
During a picket in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaford,_Delaware Seaford, Delaware] on May 21st, 2006, one person broke through police lines and assaulted WBC members who fled into a police van. Five people faced criminal charges.

Early in the morning of August 2nd, 2008, someone set fire to a garage near the Westboro Baptist Church, causing an estimated $10,000 in damages.

On November 30th, 2010, disabled Army veteran Ryan Newell was arrested in his parked SUV outside the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita,_Kansas Wichita, Kansas], city hall while members of WBC were in a meeting inside. Guns and ammunition were found in the back of the SUV, and Newell was charged with weapons violations and felony conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. On June 23rd, 2011, Newell pled guilty to impersonating a law enforcement officer and was sentenced to two years of probation. Newell received public support for his actions, and fundraisers and websites were created by the public to help in his defense.

===Patriot Guard Riders===
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Guard_Riders Patriot Guard Riders] is a motorcyclist group composed mostly of veterans who attend the funerals of members of the U.S. Armed Forces at the invitation of the deceased's family. The group was initially formed to shelter and protect the funerals from protesters from the WBC.

===Parodies===
A slogan commonly invoked at the counter protests is "God hates figs". Parodying the WBC all-capitals "God hates fags" signs, the counter-protest signs often invoke a passage in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible Biblical] book of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Matthew Matthew] to justify the claim about God and his feelings about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_fig figs]. The signs have been noted at counter-protests at the University of Chicago; in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartanburg,_South_Carolina Spartanburg, South Carolina]; and in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as well as at the non-WBC-themed [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rally_to_Restore_Sanity Rally to Restore Sanity]. The use of the signs has been invoked as a sign of sanity by the ACLU<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>and others.

Documentation given out at various counter-protests cite biblical verses in which Jesus says that none should eat the fruit of a fig tree ([http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20Mark&verse=11:12%E2%80%9314&src=NIV Mark 11:12–14]), in which [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursing_the_fig_tree Jesus causes a fig tree to wither] ([http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20Matthew&verse=21:18%E2%80%9320&src=NIV Matthew 21:18–20]), and in which God promises, as a punishment, to make someone like bad figs ([http://bibref.hebtools.com/?book=%20Jeremiah&verse=29:17&src=NIV Jeremiah 29:17]). These are genuine citations, but are not the sole mentions of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figs_in_the_Bible figs in the Bible].

Other sites and organizations have parodied the slogans of the Westboro Baptist Church, including God Hates Fred Phelps, God Hates Bags, and God Hates Shrimp. The Cooper family in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Smith Kevin Smith]'s 2011 film ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_State_%282011_film%29 Red State]'' was reportedly inspired by the Westboro Baptist Church.

Protestors holding WBC-like picket signs are seen in the film ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Bless_America_%28film%29 God Bless America]''.

===Criticism===
A number of Phelps' critics have suggested that the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church are merely a ploy to receive attention and publicity above all else, though the Phelpses themselves deny this claim. Counter-protesting against the group, they suggest, gives them attention and incentive that they do not deserve; and a more effective response against Phelps would be to ignore his family and congregation completely. WBC, through the closely related Phelps Chartered law firm, has collected fees under the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Attorney%27s_Fees_Award_Act_of_1976 Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976] when their protests have been unlawfully disrupted.

A frequent critic of the WBC is political commentator [[Bill O'Reilly]], who regularly calls the church "evil and despicable". Documentary filmmaker [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moore Michael Moore] has also criticized the church.

The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Defamation_League Anti-Defamation League] (ADL) describes the Westboro Baptist Church as "virulently homophobic", whose anti-homosexual rhetoric they say is often a cover for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Semitism anti-Semitism], [[Americophobia|anti-Americanism]], racism, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Catholicism anti-Catholicism].The nonprofit civil rights organization [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Poverty_Law_Center Southern Poverty Law Center] (SPLC) has added the Westboro Baptist Church to its list of hate groups. [[Jerry Falwell]] referred to Phelps as "a first-class nut".<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>WBC picketed Falwell's funeral service on May 22, 2007.

In May 2011, representatives of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] distanced themselves from the church, denouncing them as "hatemongers".<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/battle-hate-groups/351238/ Battle of the Hate Groups: KKK Takes on Westboro], ''The Atlantic''</ref>

In response to WBC's announcement that they would picket the vigil for victims of the December 14, 2012 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting], several petitions to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House White House] (using the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_the_People_%28petitioning_system%29 We the People] system) have been submitted, calling on the President to legally recognize WBC as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_group hate group], revoke its [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_exemption_for_religious_organizations tax exemption for religious organizations], and to ban protests at funerals and memorial services. One petition, backed by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacktivist hacktivist] group [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_%28group%29 Anonymous], was submitted the day of the shootings, and reached more than 75,000 signatures within two days.

Rapper [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Lethal Mac Lethal] uploaded a video titled "Beatbox + iPhone + Guitar + Fast Rap = Win By Mac Lethal" on December 18, 2012 that took inspiration from the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church and the media after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Some of the lyrics include:
:And I might suck at guitar
:but at least I've never protested a dead soldier's funeral,
:and I might be losing my hair, but at least I've never judged a woman for thinking another woman is beautiful,
:and sometimes, I mean sometimes,
:I might even text message while I drive,
:but I've never thanked God when a precious 5 year old child was shot, and died....
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Drain Lauren Drain], a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, released an autobiography titled ''Banished'' in March 2013. She characterizes children, like herself, as being [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_control brainwashed] into their belief system and describes consequences of questioning their belief system, such as her banishment.