George Floyd Protests Mobilize Anonymous After Long Hiatus
As civil unrest sweeps the United States in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, hacktivist group Anonymous has emerged from a years-long hiatus. On Thursday, a video addressing the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) was posted to the Anonymous Facebook page. The masked speaker declares that MPD has a “horrific record of violence and corruption,” noting that “in the past two decades, 193 people have been killed by police in Minnesota” including the high-profile slayings of Jamar Clark, Philando Castile, Justine Damond, Thurman Blevins, and Brian Quinones.
The speaker continues, saying “Officers who kill people and commit other crimes need to be held accountable just like the rest of us” and “You are here to oppress us and carry out the will of the criminal ruling class. . . . ” The video ends in a clear warning to MPD: “We do not trust your corrupt organization to carry out justice, so we will be exposing your many crimes to the world.” The video has garnered thousands of shares and millions of views.
Anonymous Seeks Justice for George Floyd via Hacking Police Department Websites and Communications
The Minneapolis PD website has been taken offline by Anonymous & they're threatening to take down any government website for any organization attacking protestors
— William LeGate (@williamlegate) May 31, 2020
Anonymous appears to have made good on these threats, as MPD’s website as well as the official City of Minneapolis website became suddenly inaccessible late Saturday.
The sites have now reappeared with the addition of sporadic captcha tests, likely a response to DDoS attacks. Users of both sites continue to report issues.
Anonymous has also reportedly retaliated against other police departments involved in the ongoing clashes between protestors and police.
The @YourAnonCentral account retweeted this tweet in the early morning hours Sunday:
Anonymous apparently now been hacking Chicago PD radios all night and playing polka music and Fuck The Police so the cops can’t communicate about protests lmfao pic.twitter.com/cAGPRRcROX
— elijah daniel (@elijahdaniel) May 31, 2020
Anonymous Leaks Go After Donald Trump & Jeffrey Epstein
But city police departments were not the only targets of Anonymous’ offensive. Anonymous also released a series of leaks shedding light on the relationship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein:
You had Jeffrey Epstein killed to cover up your history of child trafficking and rape. We've have the recipts here: https://t.co/zYnSn3kCNe
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) May 31, 2020
Incase you are wondering what Russia has on @realDonaldTrump, it's blackmail on organized crime, in particular human / child trafficking and rape. Maybe the police should stop shooting protestors and arrest real criminals.
receipt: https://t.co/i8KzTkazCYhttps://t.co/Cno6hSvDmz— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) May 31, 2020
What does Epstein have to do with Black Lives Matter? it's a testament to the impunity given to those in power that believe that we are property they can sell & destroy as they please. Their impunity is why they murder black people and traffick children. We can all stop them.
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) May 31, 2020
Leaked documents include witness statements from court proceedings that specifically mention both Epstein and Trump and pages from Epstein’s infamous “Little Black Book” that contain personal contact information for Donald Trump and other well-known individuals. Celebrities Naomi Campbell and Chris Tucker were trending on Twitter as a result of the chatter following the leaks. Other celebrities discovered in Epstein’s papers include Rupert Murdoch, Alec Baldwin, Dustin Hoffman, Will Smith, Mick Jagger, Courtney Love, Bobby Slayton, Joan Rivers, Michael Jackson, Rupert Wainwright, Minnie Driver, Christy Turlington, George Hamilton, John Cleese, and Jacques Villeneuve.
Many of the Epstein tweets link to the @OPDeathEater account which has a long history of tying high-profile figures like Bill Gates, Prince Andrew, and Bill Clinton to pedophilia and sex trafficking. Speaking of the Royal Family, Anonymous rounded out their busy day by tweeting about the death of Princess Diana:
Around the time of her death, Diana was visiting hospitals and care homes Jimmy Savile was preying on at all hours of the night, consoled Elm Guest House victims, and recorded palace rape victim testimony.
Receipt: https://t.co/hSHAPGB8lv https://t.co/yz3ZqIDoLJ
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) May 31, 2020
It is worth noting that many of these documents have been released previously, though @YourAnonCentral also promised that there will be “More to come.”
Social Media Largely Welcomes Hacks as Part of Larger Effort to Seek Justice for George Floyd; Some Users Remain Skeptical
As news of the attacks spread online, “Anonymous” became a top-trending topic on Twitter, as did “Mr. Robot.” The return of the clandestine organization was largely met with joy and excitement:
Others expressed concern over the legitimacy of the attacks. Because Anonymous is a loosely organized collective, it can be difficult to determine which users and accounts have the authority to speak for Anonymous. Many commenters argued that, by the very nature of the group, anyone who serves the cause can be considered “Anonymous.” In any case, it does not seem that the current iteration of Anonymous is ready to make peace any time soon:
Anonymous is closely watching the situation, our cyber assets in Europe & South America are ready to intervene if and when it becomes necessary in order to protect human rights and freedom of expression. Also if you aren't anti-fascist you are a fascist. https://t.co/xWZkzjef7v
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) May 31, 2020
