Hacktivist group Anonymous has begun releasing contact information purported to belong to members of the Ku Klux Klan after promising to reveal the identity of 1,000 Klansmen later this week.
Twitter accounts affiliated with the shadowy online collective began circulating lists over the weekend containing phone numbers and email addresses alleged to belong to dozens of members of the KKK.
The details were uploaded to the website Pastebin, circulated over Twitter and have been viewed thousands of times during the last few days.
And while several of the phone numbers shared by Anonymous appear to have been already publicly available and include unlisted numbers and well-known Klan hotlines alike, individuals claiming involvement with the hacktivist group said last week that they would out 1,000 members of the Klan on Nov. 5, the same day that Anonymous plans to hold protests and marches in cities across the world, including Washington, D.C., and London.
“You are terrorists that hide your identities beneath sheets and infiltrate society on every level. The privacy of the Ku Klux Klan no longer exists in cyberspace. You’ve had blood on your hands for nearly 200 years,” Anonymous said in a statement.
Anonymous similarly set its sights on the KKK late last year after a Missouri chapter reportedly threatened to use “lethal force” against demonstrators in Ferguson, Missouri, who were planning to protest the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a local police officer. Hacktivists subsequently leaked personal details of alleged Klansmen and compromised websites and social media accounts registered to the group.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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