Firstly, without confirmation we are not inclined to print it here and view doing so as irresponsible at this time. Following the release of the name on Twitter, The St. Louis County Police Department fired off a tweet of their own saying that the group has identified the wrong person.
“Do not release more info on this random citizen,” said a tweet from @stlcountypd.
In a statement to Reuters, Edward Magee, spokesman for the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office said, “We can’t let anonymous groups or even public groups pressure us into doing anything we don’t think we should do.” This statement in reference to the decision to keep the officer’s name secret due to death threats and potential harm that could come to him.
Anonymous group’s hacker emails Reuters
A member of Anonymous, who goes by @The Anon Message on Twitter, contacted Reuters by email this morning after the release of the name saying that the group stands by the name they gave and included, “Of course they’ll deny,” in the email he sent according to Reuters.
Last night, days after the shooting, Ferguson, MO resembled a “war zone” with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas at protestors while also employing smoke grenades. The continued confrontations between police and protestors prompted President Obama to address the matter just minutes ago from Martha’s Vineyard where he is vacationing with his family.
Obama speaks today
Obama used measured tones to appeal for calm on both sides as he asked police to stop arresting journalists and protestors indiscriminately while telling protestors to stop targeting the police.
“There is never an excuse for violence against police or those who would use this tragedy as a cover for vandalism or looting,” Obama said.
He then followed with a message for police.
“His family will never hold Michael in their arms again,” Obama said. “When something like this happens, the local authorities, including the police, have the responsibility to be open and transparent about how they are investigating that death.”
Not good enough for Anonymous
While that is to be expected from the president, Anonymous is clearly not on the side of police which further threatened law enforcement with a video claiming to disrupt their lives significantly.
“The entire global collective of Anonymous is outraged at this cold blooded murder of a young teen. Not a week goes by that some young person, usually of minority ethnicity — is slaughtered by murderous police in the USA,” a Guy Fawkes mask-disguised voice said in the video.
“For this reason Anonymous will not be satisfied this time, as we have in the past — with simply obtaining justice for this young man and his family. Anonymous demands that the congressional representatives and senators from Missouri introduce legislation entitled ‘Mike Brown’s Law’ that will set strict national standards for police conduct in the USA. We further demand that this new law include specific language to grant the victims of police violence the same rights and prerogatives that are already enjoyed nationwide by the victims of other violent criminals.”
Finally, the overt threat came despite the voice calling it a promise.
“If you abuse, harass or harm in any way the protesters in Ferguson we will take every Web-based asset of your departments and governments offline. That is not a threat. It is a promise,” the message went on. “We will dox and release the personal information on every single member of the Ferguson Police Department, as well as any other jurisdiction that participates in the abuse. We will seize all your databases and email spools and dump them on the Internet.”
