The hacking collective Anonymous has released a new video blaming officials in Michigan for the Flint water crisis, and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in particular.
“The crimes committed by Governor Snyder as well as other city officials will not go unpunished,” says a speaker donning the group’s usual attire, a Guy Fawkes mask, in a video uploaded to YouTube this week.
“The city of Flint deserved to be informed and made aware of the problem with the town drinking water,” the speaker adds. “The fact that Governor Snyder stayed silent while the children of Flint were poisoned says a lot about his character. We currently believe that enough evidence exists to arrest Gov. Snyder for either voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, and that a full-scale investigation … will send Gov. Snyder to prison.”
State and federal officials have declared an emergency in the city, where lead levels in the water skyrocketed after officials switched to a river for the water supply. The National Guard has been deployed to assist in distributing drinking water.
“Justice will arrive in the form of a pale mask,” the speaker in the video concludes, though he did not detail any specific threats. However, on Thursday, a local hospital confirmed it had been the victim of a recent cyberattack.
“All policies and protocols were followed in relation to the most-recent cyber attack on our system,” Hurley Medical Center spokeswoman Ilene Cantor said, according to Mlive.com. “Patient care was not compromised and we are closely monitoring all systems to ensure IT security is consistently maintained.”
It isn’t clear whether there was a connection to the video by Anonymous, though the group has had mishaps in the past. A division called “New World Hackers” hacked a website for the “Black Lives Matter” movement earlier this month, before apologizing and saying it wouldn’t happen again.
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The group has also engaged in politically-motivated attacks against Donald Trump and the Turkish government over the last month, and attacked the BBC in what amounted to an attempt by the hackers to test their equipment.
