Well it wouldn't be a Bay Area protest without a friendly visit from Anonymous.
On Tuesday morning, Oakland officials woke to find themselves the latest target of international hacktivist group Anonymous when the group posted private information online. Anonymous highlighted the brutality at the Occupy Oakland protests and the allegedly unreasonable salaries of top officials in the light of recent budget cuts as motives behind the hack.
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Targeted in the attack were Mayor Jean Quan, Chief of Police Howard Jordan, Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana, City Attorney Barbara Jean Parker, and City Council Members Jane Brunner, Patricia Kernighan, Nancy Nadel, Libby Schaaf, Ignacio De La Fuente, Desley Ann Brooks and Laurence Reid. Councilmember at Large Rebecca Kaplan was spared, and a note by her name read, "Thank you for your support and being a true leader in the community."
The post included details like phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, salary information (Deanna Santana apparently pulls in $273,000), family information, website administration IDs and property value information. It also included some less-than-flattering accompanying notes, like the one outlining the rape charges against Council Member Ignacio De Le Fuente's son.
In true Anonymous style, the group included with the hacked information a hopelessly dramatic video memo:
(Cue heartbeat sound effect and voice dub.)
Citizens of Oakland -
Anonymous has been watching. Since the inception of Occupy Oakland, we have been actively monitoring your behavior and exposing the identities and sensitive information of Officers of the Oakland Police Department, as they have continued to act in an unprofessional and violent manner. You tear gassed us. You shot us with your weapons. You arrested us. You beat us. You also did this to our friends, and to our families. We watched as you cut budgets, cut our jobs, closed our schools, our parks, and our libraries, while leaving your own salaries alone. We laughed in disgust as Deanna Santana said she would need to speak to her attorney before discussing her pay cut. The people on this list are supposed to represent the best of what the City of Oakland has to offer. If they are the best, why is there so much trouble within the Police Department and in the City of Oakland?
(Cue creepy background sound effect)
We are shocked and disgusted by your behavior. Before you commit atrocities against innocent people again, think twice. You should have expected us.
(Cue "Inception" score. No not really, but that seems like an obvious next step.)
While Anonymous may at times be eyeroll-inducing, the group does have a history of serious online mischief, as Mastercard and former BART Spokesman Linton Johnson can certainly attest.
Check out Anonymous's memo to the City of Oakland in the video message below: