Anonymous: Flint Officials 'Will Not Go Unpunished'

Hacker group wants governor Rick Snyder charged with manslaughter
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 21, 2016 5:15 PM CST

Hacker group Anonymous is taking up the cause of Michigan residents sickened by Flint's ongoing water crisis, but no one seems to be all that impressed. The city started using the Flint River for its water in 2014, but the water proved to be toxic, Maxim reports. And officials were ignoring the problem until recently, with emails showing Michigan governor Rick Snyder knew about it for more than a year, according to Mic. On Wednesday, the Anonymous Intelligence Group released a statement calling for Snyder to be charged with manslaughter. "He is now going to simply be shown the error of his evil ways," says the narrator of a video released along with the statement. The statement makes it clear that state officials "will not go unpunished," Maxim reports.

What is less clear is what Anonymous actually plans to do. Mic reports manslaughter—or, more accurately, negligent homicide—charges against Snyder are unlikely. And Maxim notes most of the links included in the statement are for the group's GoFundMe page. "Anonymous' latest campaigns have less to do with actual hacktivism…and more to do with being brash on social media," Mic states. “We will amplify your voice where the mainstream media will surely fail you," Vocativ quotes the video before pointing out the Flint water crisis has been extensively covered by the mainstream media, especially in recent months. "This is just the latest example in a growing trend of reactionary Anonymous attacks," Vocativ states. And Mic concludes: "In the case of Flint, Anonymous is the last to show up." (More Flint, Michigan stories.)

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