Activist group Anonymous have released the names of hundreds of alleged KKK supremacist sympathisers in the United States.
The ‘hactivist’ group said that the release of data was a “form of resistance against the violence and intimidation tactics” of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan affiliates throughout history.
Russia Today reports:
According to the hacktivist group, it began compiling the list about 11 months ago, following the killing of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old African American fatally shot by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, last August.
Last year the KKK pledged to use “deadly force” against those protesting the killing of the teen.
Anonymous said it had collected data for its so-called “Operation KKK” through a range of ways, using publicly available information, “interviewing expert sources” and resorting to covert, “digital espionage.”
“Members often told on themselves to us about their connections with the KKK during various chat conversations we had with Klan members and affiliates throughout the course of our operation. You never know who you are talking to on the internet,”the group said.
OFFICIAL #OpKKK #HoodsOff 2015 Data Release. https://t.co/EQODjs7wpA With Love, Anonymous
— Operation KKK (@Operation_KKK) November 5, 2015
Some members were listed with their alleged aliases, Anonymous said, noting that the Klan “sometimes hides behind several online identities. Given name or alias, these are the real people underneath the hoods.”
Anonymous stressed that many Klan members change Klan affiliations, switching from being Klan members and neo-Nazis, sometimes even doing both. “Some members of this list are quite dangerous, sociopathic individuals,” the hacktivist group said.
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