'Anonymous' Hackers Take Down Koch Brothers-Backed Americans For Prosperity Website
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'Anonymous,' the group of online hacker activists that rose to prominence for laying cyber siege to a number of parties who opposed WikiLeaks, has launched its latest attack on the Americans for Prosperity website, a conservative organization funded by the billionaire Koch brothers.
Politico reports that the "Anonymous" actions left the Koch-backed website unavailable for periods late Sunday night, though it appears to be running normally at the time of publication.
In a press release, the group points to the Kochs' involvement in the ongoing standoff between public employees and Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin:
"Koch Industries, and oligarchs like them, have most recently started to manipulate the political agenda in Wisconsin," "Anonymous" writes. "Governor Walker's union-busting budget plan contains a clause that went nearly un-noticed. This clause would allow the sale of publicly owned utility plants in Wisconsin to private parties (specifically, Koch Industries) at any price, no matter how low, without a public bidding process. The Koch's have helped to fuel the unrest in Wisconsin and the drive behind the bill to eliminate the collective bargaining power of unions in a bid to gain a monopoly over the state's power supplies."
The Koch brothers, who are also prominent backers of the Tea Party movement, were cast into the spotlight last week when a liberal blogger claiming to be David Koch prank-called Gov. Walker.
Walker's comments in that conversation brought some scrutiny of the proximity between the governor and the conservative benefactors.
Here's the entire press release from "Anonymous":
Dear Citizens of the United States of America,It has come to our attention that the brothers, David and Charles Koch--the billionaire owners of Koch Industries--have long attempted to usurp American Democracy. Their actions to undermine the legitimate political process in Wisconsin are the final straw. Starting today we fight back.
Koch Industries, and oligarchs like them, have most recently started to manipulate the political agenda in Wisconsin. Governor Walker's union-busting budget plan contains a clause that went nearly un-noticed. This clause would allow the sale of publicly owned utility plants in Wisconsin to private parties (specifically, Koch Industries) at any price, no matter how low, without a public bidding process. The Koch's have helped to fuel the unrest in Wisconsin and the drive behind the bill to eliminate the collective bargaining power of unions in a bid to gain a monopoly over the state's power supplies.
The Koch brothers have made a science of fabricating 'grassroots' organizations and advertising campaigns to support them in an attempt to sway voters based on their falsehoods. Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth and Citizens United are just a few of these organizations. In a world where corporate money has become the lifeblood of political influence, the labor unions are one of the few ways citizens have to fight against corporate greed. Anonymous cannot ignore the plight of the citizen-workers of Wisconsin, or the opportunity to fight for the people in America's broken political system. For these reasons, we feel that the Koch brothers threaten the United States democratic system and, by extension, all freedom-loving individuals everywhere. As such, we have no choice but to spread the word of the Koch brothers' political manipulation, their single-minded intent and the insidious truth of their actions in Wisconsin, for all to witness.
Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one, even when their own government refuses to listen or worse - is complicit in these attacks. We are actively seeking vulnerabilities, but in the mean time we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries' paper products. We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom.
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First Posted: 02/28/11 09:57 AM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:35 PM ET