A satirical creation misconstrued as a real extremist group, leading to an FBI investigation.
The Church of the Hammer was initially considered a religious extremist group that became the subject of an FBI investigation starting in December 2005. Named after a treaty on witchcraft and allegedly founded by a protégée of Westboro Baptist Church’s Fred Phelps, the group was thought to advocate for violent retribution against those defying God’s will, especially targeting the goth subculture.
The FBI’s main source of information on the group was a goth individual who interacted with members of the Church through their Yahoo Group, “GodHatesGoths,” in an attempt to correct their misconceptions about the relationship between the goth subculture and Satanism. Despite these efforts, the FBI escalated its investigation, fearing the potential for a situation akin to the Waco siege.
However, the investigation faced challenges. None of the people asked about the Church’s alleged incidents knew what the FBI agents were referring to. In March 2006, the FBI visited the group’s website, GodHatesGoths.com, and discovered a small-print disclaimer indicating that the site and the Church were satirical. Consequently, in July 2007, the FBI closed the investigation, concluding that the Church of the Hammer did not actually exist and was a parody.
