Anon Intel Group, an Anonymous group, posted an alert on January 20 that the hacktivist group launched #OpFlint with the intention of bringing attention to the Flint water crisis and to help Flint residents get justice. Part of the operation will expose Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and bring him to justice – morally and otherwise.
Anon Intel Group which operates as a separate entity apart from the AnonHQ, noted that the residents of Flint have been drinking poisoned tap water for “over a year now,” adding that Gov. Snyder and the city government have been complicit in both ignoring two years of residents’ calls for help – and covering it up.
The situation is just plain inexcusable – and Anonymous has finally had enough, so it started #OpFlint in response.
It’s definitely not smart to make Anonymous mad, not smart to claim ignorance of the facts, and it’s never a good idea to poison people – especially your people – the same people you promised to care for when you ran for office.
The operation is designed to raise awareness of the egregiousness of the issue, and get citizens to push for the justice department to charge him [Gov. Snyder] with “Voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.”
According to the Anon Intel Group, an activist that goes by the handle “@c1tyOfFl1nt” has been working,
“For countless hours, weeks and years to bring awareness to the water crises in flint[sic]”
Some Flint residents are going to feel as if the Anon Intel Group is reading their minds, as the post continues saying,
“Governor Snyder needs to be reminded that he is a servant for the very same people he has poisoned and made sick. Or perhaps he never forgot. Perhaps corruption is at play here.”
The announcement post reiterates the fact that Gov. Snyder and other city officials knew about the crisis, but did nothing to help. Instead of making other residents aware of the poisoned water, they insisted it wasn’t their problem.
For that, Anon Intel Group says, Gov. Snyder and other city officials “will not go unpunished.” Although they do not explain exactly what the group means by the statement, the post does mention that they believe Gov. Snyder and other officials are guilty enough that they should be charged with crimes – voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, in particular.
Although this likely would not be punishment enough for the “pain, suffering and possible death” the Flint residents have felt, not to mention the indifference of the city officials – Gov. Snyder especially.
According to Anon Intel group, “it all stops now,” as Anonymous’ #OpFlint promises to be Flint’s voice, to call “bullshit on any spin that the corporate media” will throw up to bury the issue, and to show Gov. Snyder “the error of his evil ways.”
The tweaked Anonymous conclusion fits the timbre of the Flint water crisis perfectly. It reads,
“Because what Governor Snyder will soon learn is that we do not forgive. We do not forget. The people responsible for this crises will be held accountable. Every wrong doing will be rectified. The city of Flint deserved better, governor. Instead they got a murderer. One again justice will arrive in the form of a pale mask.”
“We are Legion. We are the citizens of #OpFlint. Governor Snyder, did you really not expect us?”
The egregiousness of the Flint water crisis is that Gov. Snyder is fully complicit in what’s happening. The day he allowed the Emergency Manager to take over and decide the residents’ fate was the day he sealed his and Flint’s fate – and the day he proved unfit to lead.
https://twitter.com/AnonIntelGroup/status/689730855330267136
Ideally, Americans and Anonymous alike would like to see Gov. Snyder charged with any crime possible – a small token of justice for his poisoning Flint residents. Charges could include, according to a strict reading of the Michigan penal code, child endangerment, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, and a host of other potential crimes.
According to Michigan’s Penal Code, because Gov. Snyder intentionally and knowingly ignored the situation in Flint, and intentionally and knowingly allowed it to continue. As such, he knew what he was doing when he refused to allow Flint to have clean water and, as a result, he was knowingly and intentionally poisoning of hundreds of thousands of people.
Only the medical examiner will ever know just how many people in the last two years died as a result of what Gov. Snyder did. In any case, voluntary attempted manslaughter and voluntary manslaughter are the two most fitting charges.
Michigan increased its its cyber security alert status in response to the Anonymous announcement, according to Caleb Buhs, noting that the state’s official website was “knocked offline last weekend by a denial of service attack.”
According to the Detroit Free Press, Buhs doesn’t know whether the outage is tied to Anonymous, or if it is just a coincidence, but it’s back online, and the state is “prepared” for any new attacks that may happen.
Featured Image Screenshot via #OpFlint AnonIntelGroup via YouTube.com
