Anonymous Group LulzFinancial Hacks Westboro Baptist Church Over Powell Funeral

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February 10, 2012 11:40 AM EST

An off-shoot of "hacktivist group" Anonymous went after Westboro Baptist Church on Thursday after the controversial congregation announced that it would picket the funeral of Charlie and Braden Powell, the two boys murdered by father Josh Powell earlier this week.

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Westboro Baptist Church claimed that the two boys' deaths were God's punishment for Washington state's new law legalizing same-sex marriage, a claim that prompted the Anonymous-affiliated group not only to hack the organization's main web sites but to release the personal contact information of the church's members.

'This is why God's cursed you'

"Westboro will picket the funerals of the Powell boys, Sa. 2/11 12:15p, to remind @GovGregoire they died because of her rebellion," Margie J. Phelps, the daughter of Pastor Fred Phelps, tweeted on Wednesday.

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The Westboro Baptist Church is notorious for picketing funerals, as well as for preaching a gospel that emphasizes homophobia (picketers often carry signs emblazoned with the words "God Hates Fags") and a vengeful God.

Occupy Seattle has already announced its intention to stage a counter-protest if Westboro members show up at the funeral.

Introducing LulzFinancial

For LulzFinancial, a new crew of hackers associated with Anonymous, Margie Phelps' tweets were too much to take in the wake of the Josh Powell murders.

LulzFinancial had already made their mark as a part of the loose collection of "hacktivists" known as Anonymous earlier in the week. On Monday, they hacked into 78 email accounts at the Syrian Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

The group released hundreds of emails from Syrian President Bashar Assad's offices, including messages from Minister of Presidential Affairs Mansour Fadlallah Azzam and Assad's media adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban.

On Tuesday, the Anonymous off-branch hacked WBC site godhatesfags.com, as well as leaking information about alleged members of Stormfront, a neo-Nazi hate group.

Taking Down Westboro Baptist Church

But on Thursday, Westboro Baptist Church became LulsFinancial's primary target, and the hackers in charge of taking it down held nothing back.

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