Anonymous targets Ku Klux Klan during latest operation

After the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) promised to use lethal force against protestors in Ferguson, Mo., supporters of Anonymous launched OpKKK. On Sunday, the faceless, loosely associative collective hijacked two KKK Twitter accounts, and used DDoS to disable several KKK-related websites.

In addition to the Web-based assault, Anonymous supporters have also started leaking personal details on those associated with the KKK, including members of the “Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan” – the group that promised lethal force.

“To the terrorists masquerading as ‘peaceful protesters’,” the KKK’s message stated, addressing those in Ferguson, Mo.

“You have awakened a sleeping giant. The good people of St. Louis County of all races, colors and creeds will not tolerate your threats of violence against our police officers, their families and our communities. You have been warned by the Ku Klux Klan! There will be consequences for your acts violence against the peaceful law abiding citizens of Missouri. We will use lethal force as provided under Missouri Law to defend ourselves.”

In response to the threats made by the KKK, the Southern Poverty Law Center said that while their words were sickening, it was no surprise to see the KKK throw fuel onto an already volatile situation.

“After all, the Klan is America’s oldest racist hate group and has been responsible for some of the heinous acts of domestic terrorism this country has seen, all in the name of white supremacy. This group’s threat of using ‘lethal force’ is nothing but vigilantism and has no place in America,” said Lecia Brooks, SPLC outreach director.

Anonymous started their actions earlier in the weekend, but on Sunday their efforts resulted in several TAKKKK members or associated being doxed (personal information released publicly).

On IRC there were claims that various email accounts and social media profiles had been compromised, in addition to the two primary Twitter accounts (@KuKluxKlanUSA / @YourKKKCentral).

[Note: I’m under the impression that the YourKKKCentral account is a troll account created by Anons, but I list it here for the record. –Steve]

On YouTube, Anonymous left a brief message for the KKK, noting that the attack against them is directly related to their actions against those in Ferguson.

“We are not attacking you because of what you believe in as we fight for freedom of speech… We are attacking you because of what you did to our brothers and sisters at the Ferguson protest on the 12th of November. Due to your actions we have started Operation KKK.

“The aim of our operation is nothing more than Cyber Warfare. Anything you upload will be taken down; anything you use to promote the KKK will be shut down. DDos attacks have already been sent and have infiltrated your servers over the past 2 days… d0x’s have also been launched on leaders of the KKK. All information retrieved will be given to the public. You messed with our family and now we will mess with yours… Let the cyber war begin.”

By early morning on Monday, some of the targeted KKK domains were coming back online after the DDoS attacks slowed some. However, most were depended on CloudFlare cached copies, or extremely slow. The image below shows the scale of attacks against the TAKKKK at one point Sunday evening.