'Anonymous message to the Minneapolis Police Department' over protests

Minneapolis : The decentralized hacktivist group, Anonymous has become reactive to support the on-going protests in the US against police brutality.

On the weekend, the internet was buzzing with threads talking about how Anonymous had hacked the police department website and took it offline. The buzz came after a video was posted on the group’s Facebook page with the caption, ‘Anonymous Message To The Minneapolis Police Department’.

It all started with the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old man, who was arrested by the police officer outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A viral video showed how the police officer kept his knee on his neck for several minutes despite him calling for mercy and notifying that he is unable to breathe.

Derek Chauvin, a former police officer from the Minneapolis Police Department, kept his knee on the neck of the late George Floyd for almost 8 minutes.

Since then, the four police officers involved in the incident have been removed from the police force. According to the New York Times, three other former police officers are still under investigation while Hennepin County attorney, Mike Freeman has announced charges of murder and manslaughter against Chauvin.

In the video by Anonymous, a person wearing the signature Guy Fawkes mask can be heard speaking against police brutality while focusing on incidents involving the Minneapolis Police Department. While talking about the recent incident, the person says at the end, “These officers must face criminal charges, and officer Chauvin especially should face murder charges. Unfortunately, we do not trust your corrupt organization to carry out justice, so we will be exposing you many crimes to the world. We are a legion. Expect us.”

Soon after the video was posted, the Minneapolis Police Department website went offline.