After prominent Westboro Baptist Church member/professional troll/mother of illegitimate son Shirley Phelps-Roper announced her group's intention to picket Sandy Hook Elementary School "to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment," the wrath came quickly.

An anonymous offshoot promptly launched #OpWestboro with the intention of "destroying" the church and its members.

Within hours the group began posting personal contact info and credit card numbers of WBC congregants, and hacking the church's various online properties.

A coup de grâce of sort came with the takeover of Phelps-Roper's personal twitter account. The hack is attributed to notorious teen hacker Cosmo the God who appears to have violated the terms of his newly minted parole in order to take part in the operation.

Meanwhile, others are attempting a less tech-savvy method of bringing down the church: Convincing the government to label WBC a hate group. A We the People petition to do just that has already amassed nearly 100,000 signatures in less than three days.

[photo via AP]