The Hacktivist group Anonymous, after releasing the much-anticipated list of all the Ku Klux Klan members, saw many of the KKK's supporters and sympathizers trying to downplay the leak. The data dump by Anonymous was posted on Pastebin on Nov. 5, which was Guy Fawkes Day, according to The Huffington Post.
"We hope Operation KKK will, in part, spark a bit of constructive dialogue about race, racism, racial terror and freedom of expression, across group lines," the group said. "The reality is that racism usually does NOT wear a hood but it does permeate our culture on every level. Part of the reason we have taken the hoods off of these individuals is not because of their identities, but because of what their hoods symbolize to us in our broader society."
The hackers had spent 11 months gathering the information of the members and confirming their identities by cross-checking academic records, interviews with experts and some digital espionage. Anonymous also stated that some of the people on the list were dangerous, sociopathic individuals, while others were not.
However, the release was met with criticism. as some people pointed out that it wasn't something substantial enough to spark a revolution. Mark Pitcavage, director of the U.S. Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism. said that it was a public source of information and that for most of the people mentioned in the list, it's not a secret that they have been in the Klan. He also pointed out that there were errors in at least one person's name on the list, BBC News reported.
David Duke, one of the most well-known members of the KKK, scoffed at the leak, saying, "This whole thing is ridiculous. They've had no impact whatsoever. There's no KKK in the world; there are simply different groups with completely different ideologies."
All that has changed for Duke is that he is now receiving more hate calls than usual since his personal contact details were mentioned in the list. It hass yet to be seen exactly what effect the release of the leak is having on the KKK members. But for now, they are insisting that the list cannot do them any harm. Many of the Klan's members proudly display their affiliation to the KKK on their social profiles and personal accounts. The information dump is in response to the threats by the KKK over anti-racism protests for the killing of a black youth in Ferguson, according to teleSUR.
