By Cavan Sieczkowski
Members of the quasi-religious group, Westboro Baptist Church, planned to gather in Connecticut to protest the funeral of Newtown, Conn., shooting victim Principal Dawn Hochsprung. However, Good Samaritans were already there to thwart any possible protest with a human wall.
The Westboro Baptist Church announced plans to picket Hochsprung’s funeral on Wednesday in Woodbury, Conn., and “sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment.” The group has blamed the mass shooting on Connecticut’s same-sex marriage legislation. On Dec. 14, 26 people were shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School, 20 of those victims included children ages 6 and 7.
Motorcylists lined up on Wednesday to protest the possible protesters. “All these guys see us and think we’re bad. We’re not. It’s solidarity, is what it is,” New York native Jim Hannigan told Newtown Patch. “I just felt I had to be here.”
The hacktivist group Anonymous, which targeted Westboro after their threats to protest, tweeted that members of Westboro were staying in a Motel 6 in Connecticut on Wednesday, according to the Examiner.
“I can’t put you through to those rooms,” a desk clerk at the motel allegedly told Examiner. “I wish those people weren’t staying here. I hate them and what they stand for.”
As part of operation #OccupyNewtown, Anonymous enlisted the help of followers to head to Connecticut to block Westboro members from protesting any of the victims’ funerals, according to BetaBeat.