After a week of anticipation, the national media clamored all over a document purportedly leaked by Anonymous listing several prominent politicians affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan – not finding it strange that topping the list was an openly gay mayor as well as a Hispanic mayor who has long fought for the rights of migrant farm workers.
Not exactly the core values of the KKK, who believe in an all-white society shunning homosexuals and immigrants.
Both Lexington (Kentucky) Mayor Jim Gray and Knoxville (Tennessee) Mayor Madeline Anne Rogero have since denied any involvement with the white supremacist group.
Also denying any affiliation with the KKK is Indiana representative Dan Coats, who was also on the list, but who in 1983 was in the minority of republicans who voted to make the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. a national holiday.
A day the KKK has been protesting ever since.
It turns out, the media had been duped again. As they were last week when they clamored over the FBI’s report about an anarchist group called the National Liberation Militia planning on ambushing cops on Halloween night.
That turned out to be bullshit, not that the media, especially the New York Post, has owned up to it.
But now the media has no choice because Anonymous, the hactivist group that had been teasing the media for a week about the release of the names, denied it had released the list.
According to Newsweek, which had to update its story to clarify the confusion:
Online hacking group Anonymous has denied responsibility for the recent publication of a list that claims some U.S. politicians belong to the Ku Klux Klan.
Last week, Anonymous said it would soon release the identities of about 1,000 members of the white supremacist organization. Anonymous is expected to release the details on Thursday, the day of the global protest movement known as the Million Mask March, in which demonstrators around the world will march in a protest against corrupt governments and corporations.
The list that was released today came from a poster on Twitter named Amped Attacks, which was credible enough for a multitude of news site to run with.
I Am Releasing the proof to several news medias today,once i release them will be going dark for awhile Ty For all The Support
— Amped Attacks (@sgtbilko420) November 2, 2015
The list, which can be read here, also includes Fort Wayne (Indiana) Mayor Tom Henry, who earlier this year, celebrated the completion of a $9 million reconstruction of the city’s Martin Luther King, Jr. bridge.
If these politicians are members of the Klan, then it’s apparent the Klan has veered from its original mission of maintaining an all-white society void of homosexuals, immigrants and holidays celebrating black civil rights activists.
And while it’s true that a Montana white supremacist and failed congressional candidate named John Abarr announced last year he was launching a new and improved Ku Klux Klan, one that was inclusive of all races and colors and sexual orientations, but would still maintain the tradition of dressing up in pointy hoods and silly costumes, he was written off by the Klan as an impostor.
According to USA Today:
Abarr’s latest actions have enraged the United Klans of America, said Bradley Jenkins, imperial wizard for the organization. He agrees with the Montana Human Rights Network that Abarr should not be using the KKK title for his new organization — but for completely different reasons.
“That man’s going against everything the bylaws of the constitution of the KKK say,” said Jenkins. “He’s trying to hide behind the KKK to further his political career.”
So it would be interesting to hear what Jenkins had to say about the Klan’s newly revealed members.
Judging by the Klan’s website, the only thing that has changed from their murderous heyday is they are now committed to a “non–violent resolution” to the “race war against whites,” which apparently means their lynching days are over.
But gays and Hispanics are still not welcome.
However, that apparently did not stop the media from metaphorically lynching the listed politicians without stopping to do a little research before posting their stories.
But if last week’s false report from the FBI is any indicator, perhaps this report also came from the government in an attempt to discredit anything published by Anonymous come Thursday.
That is very plausible and should be a lesson to both the media and Anonymous that this is not a game for amateurs.
If Anonymous does, indeed, have a list of alleged KKK members who supposedly include cops and politicians, then it should just publish it without having to hype it up first. Walk the walk rather than talk the talk.
Because now the media will most likely downplay any list no matter how accurate it is.
Below are statements from two of the listed mayors as well as screenshots of initial media reports.
