UPDATE: Several people are tweeting that Westboro Baptist Church members were arrested.
Looks like Westboro got arrested. At least that’s what friends who are at the funeral are saying. I hope it’s true.
— Necia Phoenix (@Necia_Phoenix) May 24, 2013
Original story below.
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Bikers form a shield to protect mourners from Westboro Baptist Church protesters in Oklahoma (via @beau_drake).
A community in mourning is uniting against an invading force looking to exploit its misery.
Yesterday we learned the hateful Westboro Baptist Church was planning to picket the funeral of 9-year-old tornado victim Nicolas McCabe in Norman, Oklahoma — near Moore, where he was killed.
Today, an image surfaced (above) of bikers lining up to insulate mourners from the hateful protesters, who thank God for killing victims of natural disasters, believing it is His retribution for society’s sins.
Below, a Facebook video of the bikers:
Then, tweets on the ground indicated that Westboro was a “no show”:
WESTBORO IS A NO SHOW!!! Had almost 500 people and bikers there to block them, but I guess we were too intimidating! twitter.com/stocktonduvall…
— Stockton Duvall (@stocktonduvall) May 24, 2013
Meanwhile, an image is circulating of Westboro’s Shirley Phelps-Roper — daughter of the church’s head and one of the faces of the organization — encouraging local businesses to refuse her service:
Yesterday, Westboro’s “God Hates Oklahoma” website was hacked and redirected to an American Red Cross donation page.
Westboro Baptist Church Creates GodHatesOklahoma.com, Hacker Hijacks Site, Seizes Domain and Puts It to Good Use twitter.com/faaiilllll/sta…
— shayne (@faaiilllll) May 24, 2013
Shouts to everybody that went to keep westboro away from the funeral.
— Zach Thompson (@ZachTThompson) May 24, 2013
Check out this video for some of the weirdest facts about the Westboro Baptist Church: