We live in a world of political turmoil with polarizing views from either side and all too often the media, elected officials and the public at large feed into the frenzy of partisanship. Regardless of one's personal views or political affiliation sometimes an event occurs that can actually unite everyone on the basis of human rights & civil liberties. Enter the "hacktivist" group Anonymous. Born from computer savvy individuals worldwide, various anonymous chat rooms and online bulletin boards like 4chan, Anonymous quickly evolved into the vast organization it is today. Typically disguised in the famous Guy Fawkes mask from the graphic novel and popular film "V for Vendetta" the hacktivist (hacker + activist) group has orchestrated a variety of cyber attacks against well known hate groups like Westboro Baptist Church, the terrorist organization ISIS/ISIL, the Church of Scientology and the Ku Klux Klan. They have also executed DoS (Denial of Services) attacks and shut down many child pornography websites world wide. Other nefarious individuals who also identify as Anonymous have been involved in corporate DoS attacks involving PayPal, the Sony breach and other credit card companies. Either way, Anonymous has been viewed with mystique & intrigue along with their presence during the Occupy movement & their support of WikiLeaks.
#OccupySteubenville & #OpRollRedRoll
My first encounter with Anonymous was during a tragedy that took place several years ago at Steubenville, OH involving the rape of a fifteen year old West Virginian girl who was unconscious at a high school party in Ohio involving two other teenage boys who were star players of their high school football team "Big Red." After this story broke in Steubenville various members of the school district and football team quickly tried to cover it up due to how high in regard they held their players at their school. After the unethical treatment of this story in Steubenville it soon exploded and gained the much needed attention world wide. Local and national news crews, myself included, were deployed to cover the story and my role was to broadcast it to an international network. The events of that day were surreal from the community rally at city hall to the candle light vigil held for the victim referred to as "Jane Doe" and all the while Anonymous was there for their support as their diligent work shined light on that case.
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In the aftermath of this case both boys (both sixteen at the time) were found guilty and received the minimum sentence of two years in juvenile detention then later evaluated once they turn twenty-one to see if they will be added to the sex offender's list. Would have this case made the international headlines without the intervention of Anonymous? How far have we gone as a society that the influence of academic athletics would prompt an entire school district to cover up a felony especially one involving a minor to this severity? After the intervention of Anonymous in this case, particularly the #KnightSec within the group, I see that out of a tragedy there can be unity and whoever may be behind those masks (could be you) I hope that regardless of how vastly different we all are, at the end of the day I hope we all see the humanity in each of us. Even if it is shrouded in anonymity...