Anonymous Hack Cleveland Official Website

Black Twelve Year Old Child Shot Down By Police

“Police of the United States you will learn in due time once Anonymous has shut down your sites that we will not stand for your ignorant, untrained rookie cops.”

That’s the message Anonymous have relayed to the Cleveland, Ohio government after a rookie police officer fatally shot a twelve year old child in the stomach. The boy, whose name has not been released, had hold of an airsoft pistol, which police have described as looking like a ‘real gun’.

This story emerges from the roaring flames of the Ferguson trial, which has currently split the United States into two camps - those who support the police officer and those who condemn him - who are each fuelled by political desire and racial tension. On Wednesday, we reported to you the news that the KKK – who had been attempting to use Twitter to spread their hate fuelled opinions about the trial – had been hacked by Anonymous, the 4chan spin-off hacktivist group famous for using brute force attacks to condemn those they deem as sinners online. 

As of today, Cleveland, Ohio has become Anonymous' latest target. 

The twelve year old boy was shot in the chest and killed on Saturday. The man pulling the trigger has been described as a 'rookie police officer'. The boy, who was black, was parading a black airsoft gun in public before police arrived and, “fear[ing] for their lives,” gunned him down. He was dead within hours.

As opposed to the Ferguson trial, in which the police officer himself was vilified for his role in a young man’s death, relatively little of the blame is this time being placed on the officer in question. Instead, the finger is being pointed firmly into the faces of a police department who threw an untrained, ill-disciplined officer into such a delicate situation. When dealing with a child, it only makes sense to send the most trusted, experienced and able officers. Not a youngster with an itchy trigger finger and a lack of composure. 

Of course, that's not to say the police officer who pulled the trigger is blameless. Far from it, he is absolutely guilty of the sin of pulling out his weapon, aiming it at a child’s stomach, pulling the trigger and watching him die on the street in front of him. No doubt about it. However, the question has to be asked (and Anonymous are very publicly asking it): why would his department choose to send somebody whose first reaction is to pull out a firearm - instead of, say, a taser - in the midst of a situation that involved a twelve year old child? 

As was the case last week, Anonymous have used the internet to express their criticism to the decision. Specifically, they've attacked the city's official website, and produced a video that explains their reasons, which can be seen below. As of writing, the city’s official website is unreachable. This is most likely due to a DDoS by the tens of thousands of people who actively contribute to Anonymous' campaigns.

With the Ferguson enquiry still raging on, there is an incredibly dangerous political potion currently being brewed across the United States. While Anonymous are acting as the ‘good guys’, this is a war that rages a long way above their heads – and far beyond the realm of the internet as a whole. Right now, all we can do is hope that some level of peace can be found within all this tension.

Emile Cole

Emile is a postgrad from the University of Saint Mark and Saint John. He’s hoping to break into journalism or publishing, and won’t stop blogging until he’s managed it! Follow him @EmileAtSMF.

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