14 DAY TRIAL // The hacktivism group Anonymous stood by its word and yesterday released the details of 1,000 Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members, as part of its #OpKKK operation.
Anonymous made this promise towards the end of October, after a few days during which KKK members harassed a woman on Twitter, who was militating for equal rights for all people, regardless of race.
One of its members intervened on her behalf and carried out a few DDoS attacks against numerous KKK-linked websites.
Reigniting an old war
Thanks to our reporting and a few other security blogs watching the Web's underground, this story made its way into the headlines of various larger news outlets, from where other KKK members picked it up, and decided to reignite the group's older war against the Klansmen.
Anonymous and the KKK had battled before, last year, when a branch of the KKK, the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (TAKKKK), threatened people in the Ferguson riots that it would take lethal force against them if they continued their protests.
Anonymous hacked their Twitter account, and later revealed the identities of a few KKK members, some of whom were state police employees in Ferguson.
Not everything went as Anonymous wanted
But yesterday's ousting of KKK members didn't go as initially planned. On November 1, a fake Anonymous Twitter account released alleged identities of KKK members, which in some cases proved to be names of real-life senators. The incident was cast aside by the official Anonymous account and labeled as a joke.
Ironically, yesterday's official KKK outing didn't go as planned either, the group having to pull some names from the official list for further investigation.
A poll on the group's Twitter page reveals that 94% of users (7,800 voters, at the moment) thought the group was doing the right thing.
OFFICIAL #OpKKK #HoodsOff 2015 Data Release. https://t.co/EQODjs7wpA With Love, Anonymous
— Operation KKK (@Operation_KKK) November 5, 2015
Ben made an awkward, brief appearance in our release. He should not have been listed. We were surprised, as well...
— Operation KKK (@Operation_KKK) November 6, 2015
Big shoutout to some of the KKK FB accounts that gave us access to secret groups and other klan accounts for #OpKKK pic.twitter.com/NHjSEa6Tu5
— Anon Cop Watch (@AnonCopWatch) November 5, 2015
Do you want to see the #OpKKK #HoodsOff report today?
— Operation KKK (@Operation_KKK) November 5, 2015