Steubenville, OH – Anonymous has warned a Steubenville football team that it will release personal information, including names and Social Security numbers, if a public apology is not made for the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl.
Hackers identifying themselves as “KnightSec,” an arm of Anonymous, took down the website of the Steubenville High School Big Red football team last weekend and posted an Anonymous-style warning, complete with Guy Fawkes mask and a computerized voice.
The attack on the football team’s site comes after a New York Times story reported on the alleged gang rape of a drunk 16-year-old girl in Steubenville. According to prosecutors, the girl was gang raped over a period of several hours by a number of star football players. From the Times story:
“[By August 12] some people in and around Steubenville had gotten word that the night of fun on August 11 might have taken a grim turn, and that members of the Steubenville High football team might have been involved. Twitter posts, videos and photographs circulated by some who attended the nightlong set of parties suggested that an unconscious girl had been sexually assaulted over several hours while others watched. She even might have been urinated on.”
Two 16-year-old Big Red players, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, have since been arrested on charges that they raped the girl. Both teens will attend a hearing in February. However, many in the close-knit Steubenville community have defended the players, and claim the rape victim is attempting to bring down their beloved team.
There’s little doubt about which side KnightSec, and by extension Anonymous, is taking in the matter. The notice left by hackers on the Big Red site stated:
“The town of Steubenville has been good at keeping this quiet and their star football team protected.”
A notice on the team’s site now reads:
“As you are probably aware, this web site was recently hacked into illegally numerous times by a terrorist group. The outrageous claims they made while controlling this site were totally false, completely absurd, and totally unfounded. They were clearly both libelous and slanderous, and were not even intended to reveal truth, but rather simply to get media attention and terrorize the Steubenville community. Innocent people have been greatly harmed.”
You can watch the warning issued by Anonymous to the Steubenville football team in the clip below:
[Image via Shutterstock]