A recent petition from the White House to officially recognize the WBC, or the Westboro Baptist Church, as an official hate group has become the most popular post in recent memory. The White House decided to make the petition after it was learned that the WBC had planned to stage a protest rally during a vigil for the children killed in the Sandy Hook shooting.

The petition had amassed approximately 247,170 signatures by Wednesday morning, thus making it the largest online petition in the history of the White House. Petitions usually need a total of at least 25,000 signatures before the administration can review them. The amount taken from the WBC petition has exceeded that limit by at least ten fold.

The WBC has long been vilified because of its homophobic displays and for picketing funerals, especially those of slain US soldiers. They often claim that the deaths of US soldiers and other tragedies are the works of God because of the way the US has been supporting same sex marriage. One of their most recent announcements concerning the Sandy Hook shooting stated that God had sent Adam Lanza, the shooter, to the school because Connecticut had legalized same sex marriage.