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How did Westboro Church — the hateful, anti-gay group known for flamboyantly disrespecting the dead by picketing at funerals — get 7,109 “Likes” on Facebook … And counting? The answer becomes obvious when you take a look at the actual page: Anonymous strikes again! … Or did they?

Last night, some excited — and untraceable — fan of the hacktivist collective must have stumbled onto it and posted that Anonymous had hacked WBC’s Facebook page. Since Anonymous already successfully hacked into WBC’s website back in December, the news seemed believable and spread like wildfire.

Alas, the rumor turned out to be a hoax:

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“Late last night, it was reported that Anonymous had commandeered and defaced the WBC’s Facebook page … [but] What actually appears to have happened is that Anons have created a parody page.”

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Here are a few highlights:

(1) The “Official Westboro Baptist Church Facebook Page Y’all” claims to be led by Marilyn Manson, Anonymous, and Captain Crunch.

(2) If don’t realize something’s up, this appearance from the cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation removes all doubt:

(3) The obligatory geeky LOLcat makes a guest appearance, because you can’t have a fan page full of memes and no LOLcats:

(4) A photo of a glass case enclosing a Guy Fawkes mask, labeled ”In Case Of Revolution Break Glass,” displays Anonymous’ usual subversive wit

(5) The shared video post from last night which was likely what alerted Anonymous fans and the media about the WBC brandjacking.

The latest skirmish began after the Boston Marathon bombings, when WBC blamed the legalizing of marriage equality in Massachusetts for the attacks on Twitter, followed by another tweet announcing WBC’s plans to picket the funeral services to be held for the Boston Marathon bombing victims on April 18th at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

Anonymous tersely responded to WBC’s appallingly callous tweets: "If #WBC protests the Boston funerals, they will have to expect us." This unspecified threat generated considerable excitement and speculation on the InterWebz, so it’s no surprise that some untraceable Anonymous-watcher stumbled on the fake Facebook account.

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