The Ku Klux Klan's Twitter feed has probably never been so popular: On Sunday, after a week of online sparring, the hacktivist collective Anonymous appears to have taken control of two KKK Twitter accounts and knocked offline one of its websites:
Until Twitter steps in or the KKK somehow wrests control of its Twitter feed by itself, this is @KuKluxKlanUSA's avatar:
The fight started after a KKK chapter in Missouri, Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, threatened to use "lethal force" against "terrorists masquerading as 'peaceful protestors'" in Ferguson, the St. Louis suburb on edge awaiting the grand jury decision on Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot dead unarmed black teenager Michael Brown under contested circumstances. In response, Anonymous started publicly revealing the names and other details of KKK members and declared "cyber warfare" on the Klan. The KKK responded with taunting.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a video posted Friday by Anonymous Australia, a computer voice tells the KKK that Anonymous isn't "attacking you because of what you believe in, as we fight for freedom of speech." Instead, "we are attacking you because of your threats to use lethal attacks against us at the Ferguson protests." You can read more about the fight at ZDNet, but needless to say, two secretive groups threatening each other probably won't lower the temperature in Ferguson. And as long as this fight stays online, though, I wouldn't bet on the KKK.
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
