A petition on the "we the people" platform on the official White House website to designated Westboro Baptish church as a hate group has reached over 250,000 signatories, after its members held protests at funerals of the Newtown elementary school victims.
The Kansas based church is notorious for its anti-gay picketing at military funerals, an act which has prompted even the president to take action against, although not directly since the church's demonstrations are still protected by the Constitutional right of "freedom of speech" and "freedom of association." Never the less in August 2012, President Barrack Obama signed the Honoring American Veterans Act, which prohibits any protests two hours before or after a veteran's funeral service and also requires protestors to remain at a distance of 300 feet from the service.
This time members of the church picketed the funerals of the victims who were killed by Adam Lanza on Dec 14, when he opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary school, killing 20 children and six adults. Westboro Baptist church members demonstrated for gun control, a topic which has been rekindled by the tragedy, but this time many people think the church has gone too far.
The petition was posted on the official White House 'we the people' online platform on Dec 14, by the group Anonymous. It has already reached 250,000 signatures, a petition needs a minimum of 25,000 signatures in order to receive a response from the administration.
An excerpt of the petition reads, "This group has been recognized as a hate group by organizations, such as The Southern Poverty Law Center, and has repeatedly displayed the actions typical of hate groups," as posted on the White House website.
The entire petition can be viewed here.
