UPDATE, 11/3 7:30AM: Anonymous is distancing itself from the early release of names.
This account has NOT YET released any information. We believe in due diligence and will NOT recklessly involve innocent individuals #OpKKK
— Operation KKK (@Operation_KKK) November 2, 2015
The Twitter user who posted the leaked list yesterday has said that they will provide evidence to back up the release, but no information has come forward yet. Anonymous, meanwhile, is still planning on their November 5 release of KKK names and has clarified that all of their releases will come from their own accounts.
For any information about #OpKKK we will refer to the official .@Operation_KKK twitter account
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) November 2, 2015
We may be decentralised and disagree on a lot of topics amongst ourselves, but operations are always carefully coordinated
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) November 2, 2015
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Last week, the hactivist group Anonymous promised to release the names and other identifying information of 1,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan. Earlier today, they began following through and released email addresses and phone numbers belonging to those they allege are connected to the K.K.K. They began targeting the K.K.K. in November of 2014, after the members of the Missouri chapter promised to use “lethal force” against Ferguson protestors. Anonymous launched Operation KKK, or #OpKKK, and within days members had managed to take over the KKK’s twitter account, and had hacked other websites associated with the hate group. Anonymous sent out a tweet from their #OpKKK twitter feed, letting the KKK know they had the information, and were prepared to release it to the public.
We’ve gained access to yet another KKK Twitter account. Using the info obtained, we will be revealing about 1000 klan member identities. — Operation KKK (@Operation_KKK) October 22, 2015
A week later, Anonymous released a press release directed to the K.K.K. which read, in part:
Ku Klux Klan, we never stopped watching you. We know who you are … We never said we would only strike once … After closely observing so many of you for so long, we feel confident that applying transparence to your organizational cells is the right, just, appropriate, and only course of action … You are more than extremists. You are more than a hate group. You operate much more like terrorists and you should be recognized as such. You are terrorists that hide your identities beneath sheets and infiltrate society on every level.
Today, Anonymous released its first batch of information – 23 email addresses and 57 phone numbers allegedly belonging to KKK members. There are those who are already questioning the validity of the information released by the hactivist group. Many of the numbers released are seemingly unrelated to K.K.K. activities, including those belonging to a hotel and a health centre. Still, given the anonymity and the wide reach of the K.K.K., it is entirely possible those businesses could have some connection, even a minor one, to the hate group. Today the hactivist collective sent out a tweet, promising to release the rest of the information on November 5, 2015.
November 4th 2015 #OpKKK Tweetstorm https://t.co/qkjzhqCiXe November 5th 2015 #HoodsOff Bulk Data Release pic.twitter.com/KmNR3uwq2W — Operation KKK (@Operation_KKK) November 2, 2015
Anonymous timed the release to coincide with the first anniversary of the Ferguson protests, which was the same time the group began targeting K.K.K. members. A member named “SiX” told the Huffington Post that they “want the KKK gone, forever” and assured them that Anonymous “knows what we’re doing”.
None of the names that have been released so far have been verified, but Anonymous did vow to perform “due diligence” and will “discourage the circulation of disinfo & will not promote an unverifiable list of politicians”.
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