Hacktivist group, Anonymous have returned after three years with a video threatening Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) that it will expose their many crimes to the world, in retaliation for the murder of George Floyd.
In the video, an activist could be seen wearing the group’s token Guy Fawkes mask, and speaking with an electronically manipulated voice ends with the message: ‘We Are legion. Expect us.’ The harker was heard saying:
“Police brutality and murder is a widespread problem in the United States, which has undoubtedly infected nearly every jurisdiction in the country. But, the Minneapolis police department is among the worst and has a horrible track record of violence and corruption.
“This week’s brutal killing of George Floyd, which has sparked protests and national outrage, is just the tip of the iceberg in a long list of high profile cases of wrongful deaths at the hands of officers in your state.”
The message highlights the inaction of US police officers who stand by perpetrators of violence and do nothing, thereby being complicit to such acts of violence as well.
“In the past two decades, 193 people have been killed by police in Minnesota, including the deaths of Jamar Clark, Philando Castle, Justine Damond, Thomas Blevines and Brian Quinones. These are only the cases that caught headlines, where videos and other evidence prove that the police are lying.” It eventually states that the “travesty has continued for far too long, and the people have had enough.”
“Towards the end of the message, Anonymous says, “You may have fired the officer to save face, but it is obvious that this type of behaviour is condoned, if not encouraged in your department, as it is in others. Officers who kill people and commit other crimes need to be held accountable just like the rest of us; otherwise, they will believe they have the license to do whatever they want,” the message stated.
It ends with a resounding message, stating that beginning May 29, Anonymous will be exposing the “many crimes” of United States police departments.
https://twitter.com/YourAnonCentral/status/1266947376482095105
Earlier on Sunday, about a day after Anonymous posted the message, reports by US citizens started claiming that the website of the Minneapolis police department was pulled down, allegedly by Anonymous.
https://twitter.com/williamlegate/status/1266938876632981507
It was confirm that the police department’s website was indeed down as of 3PM IST, but it could not verify if it was the work of Anonymous’ members.
Anonymous did not claim responsibility for taking down the website, but an account claiming affiliation with the group did retweet the news it was down.
https://twitter.com/LatestAnonNews/status/1266994951180767233
Anonymous are a group of online activists whose main aim is to target establishment hypocrisy and corruption. The group first shot to attention in 2008 when a copyrighted Scientology video starring Tom Cruise was leaked on YouTube.
Meanwhile, a former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, who was shown on video putting his knee on the neck of George Floyd as he pleaded for air, has since been fired from his department, and charged with third degree murder and second degree manslaughter.