According to Anonymous’ twitter feed , yes they did.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Anonymous released the name of an apparently innocent man on their Twitter feed. The police immediately responded, saying that the man had nothing to do with the department.
Twitter came in and suspended Anonymous’ account . Then the hacktivist group started a new account and called off any further reports of the officer’s name. They did not let up, however, in their threats and attacks on the Ferguson police department.
Then, the Ferguson police announced they would reveal the name of the officer involved in the shooting. Anonymous immediately sent out several victory tweets:
I can guarantee you, if it was not for our actions, #Ferguson PD wouldn’t be revealing the “real” name today.
— TheAnonMessage2 (@TheAnonMessage2) August 15, 2014
Face it, @StlCountyPD , we’re forcing it out of you.
— TheAnonMessage2 (@TheAnonMessage2) August 15, 2014
Anonymous referred to releasing a name before as a plan, to force officers to reveal the real name or be accountable for the safety of the man they falsely accused:
Well, our plan worked. They are held responsible for the safety of Bryan’s life. So they have to release the name. #Ferguson
— TheAnonMessage2 (@TheAnonMessage2) August 15, 2014
Why do you think we had ourselves release that guy’s identity in stages? It’s a fail safe tactic. #Anonymous #Ferguson
— TheAnonMessage2 (@TheAnonMessage2) August 15, 2014
If the boasts are true, it would mean that the group did something that the NAACP, Michael Brown’s parents, and even Al Sharpton could not accomplish.
Although it is also probable that the ceaseless protests and national attention forced the police to out the officer as a means of calming the storm over Ferguson.
The rage did calm as protesters learned their demand was being met, and as the governor intervened in situation.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon relieved the local police of their operation to deal with the growing protests. The Highway Patrol took over. The police gear that made Ferguson look more like a battle field slowly was replaced by smiling.
The captain in charge Ron Johnson told CNN that smiling instead of scowling is key:
“We have different approach that we’re using this evening, I’ve smiled more today than I have in the past few days”
Did Anonymous play a role in outing the Ferguson officer’s name, or was simply the pressure of the crowd and new attitude from the police in charge? We may never know for sure.
[Image Credit: MelissaToh /flickr]