On Sunday activists gathered to mark 100th day of the deadly shooting of Michal Brown, an African American teenager. In response, the Missouri chapter of the KKK circulated flyers threatening Ferguson protesters with “lethal force.” The Klansmen stated that physical violence could be used against “terrorists masquerading as peaceful protesters.”
And hacktivist collective Anonymous were quick to respond.
Over the past two days, Anonymous has been busy “unhooding” local Missouri KKK members — posting their names, photographs and IP addresses of their computers. On Sunday the hacktivists shut down The KKK’s official twitter account and hacked various other accounts and websites of Klan members. Among the revealed members of the Missouri KKKs there are two law enforcement officers, one of them none other than the former Deputy Police Chief.
It is important to note that if the KKK is connected with law enforcement officials, the threat to the protesters is real. Although the ties between police and the Klan have diminished since 1980s, the suspected ties in Missouri could mean serious consequences for Michael Brown supporters, given the heated tensions in Ferguson. Besides multiple rallies in support of police officer Darren Wilson, who pulled the trigger killing Michael Brown earlier this year, the Missouri chapter of the KKK has openly raised money for the man.
“It kind of came about from hundreds of calls we've been getting from residents in St. Louis County concerned with things that they've seen on social media. Random attacks on whites, D.C. sniper-style shootings, police officers being threatened that their wives are gonna be raped, and that they're all targets,” Missouri KKK leader Frank Ancona stated last week. Flyers warning of “lethal force” have been distributed in and around Ferguson, ahead of the grand jury’s possible indictment in the Michael Brown case.
But while the media has had its fun with the ongoing cyber battles between the masked Anonymous and the hooded KKK, the real worry is whether law enforcement will be able to contain and protect the activists on either side of the battle.
