Theses homes painted in Pride colors in Topeka, Kansas, are across the street from the infamous Westboro Baptist Church. Castle Light Images/Alamy

It all started out because he was playing around on Google Earth.

Aaron Jackson was at a crossroads. He was living in New York City and working at a nonprofit when the city was devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Stuck in his small Queens apartment, the self-described “news junkie” spent long stretches online, falling into internet wormholes.

At some point, he says, he came across the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC).

The Church, which is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center , is best known for organizing pickets at soldiers’ funerals and emblazoning anti-LGBT slogans on protest signs and billboards.

“The fi

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