Probably one of the most vile and abominable and astonishingly vocal groups of our generation the Westboro Baptist Church seems to relentlessly gain media attention for their callous protests. Most recently, the Topeka, Kansas based group gained national recognition after threatening to protest at the funerals of those who had lost their lives in Newtown, Connecticut.

But I, and many Americans, seem to have had enough of the group’s media campaign filled with pitiless statements and demonstrations.  Taking a stand, more than 475,000 people have signed petitions asking the White House to crackdown on the Westboro Baptist Church and officially classifying the faction as a hate group.

Currently one of the most popular requests, there are five petitions on the White House website, all of which started after the shootings in Newtown to either classify the church as a hate group or, what I most strongly believe, to end its tax-exempt status.

With their strong views against gay marriage, the Church has picketed thousands of funerals of fallen soldiers and believes the recent shooting in Connecticut was God’s form of punishment for the allowance of gay rights.

Yes, the Church has the right to free speech, a case they argued and won when taken to court, but just like the Ku Klux Klan or the American Nazi Party, the Westboro Church is not only a fervent hate group but one that has even targeted innocent lives with their overzealous messages, and it’s time that they know it.

Visit https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitions  to helps the petition reach its needed 25,000 signatures in order to be considered for review by the administration.