Anonymous Just Launched a Campaign Against the McKinney Police Department

Impact

The global Internet hacking collective Anonymous launched an online campaign Monday against the McKinney Police Department in Texas after video emerged of police officers physically and verbally abusing a group of black teenagers at a pool party.

"Everyone who was getting put on the ground was black, Mexican, Arabic," Brandon Brooks, the 15-year-old white boy who filmed the event, told BuzzFeed News. "[The officer] didn't even look at me. It was kind of like I was invisible."

Following the MPD's heavy handed response, Anonymous, officially launched an @OPMcKinney Twitter account where it has been attacking the department with threats and calling for justice.

"We want accountability," an Anonymous member wrote to Mic. "We want the authority figures depicted [in the video] to step up and take responsibility for their despicable behavior." 

So far, the collective has offered a bounty for the identity of an unknown white male in plain clothes who is seen assisting the police in their arrests. The group has also called for the dismissal or resignation of the most aggressive officer in the video, Police Cpl. Eric Casebolt. It is currently unclear whether the collective will pursue other avenues it's used in similar situations, like hacking the police department or doxxing any of its members. 

Video footage of the police's response immediately went viral after it showed a white police officer assaulting unarmed black teenagers Friday at the allegedly illegal gathering. One officer can be seen mounting a young girl, who lies facedown, to handcuff her after grabbing her hair and throwing her to the ground. He even draws a gun on the teenagers who try to come to her rescue. 

Mic/YouTube
Mic/YouTube

Anonymous is a widely dispersed group of hackers known for "hacktivism" targeting everyone from the police officers involved in Michael Brown's death to members of the Islamic State terrorist organization and even Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev's official Twitter account

"We must peacefully rise together, against police brutality, police repression, and against state violence. This is no longer a protest. This is an uprising," Anonymous wrote on its website in response to protests in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray. "The time has come to draw a line in the sand and say, no more police killings, no more beatings, and no more deaths."

The McKinney Police Department did not respond to a request for comment from Mic.