The Slatest

Anonymous Hacker Group Harnesses Internet Rage, Targets Maryville Rape Case

A banner reads: ‘Fence In The Banks’ behind an Anonymous mask during a protest march in Berlin, Germany.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Over the weekend, the Kansas City Star published a damning account of a horrific rape case in Maryville, Mo. The details of the case sparked outrage at the woeful miscarriage of justice that has become all too familiar. (Slate’s Emily Bazelon has a breakdown of the Maryville case.)

On Monday, Anonymous, the hacker collective, weighed in demanding “an immediate investigation” into how local authorities handled the case. In a press release, the group announced “#OpMaryville,” saying:

If Maryville won’t defend these young girls, if the police are too cowardly or corrupt to do their jobs, if justice system has abandoned them, then we will have to stand for them. Mayor Jim Fall, your hands are dirty. Maryville, expect us.

This isn’t the first time that Anonymous has taken up a cause where it felt justice was not served. “After Anonymous involved themselves in the Rehtaeh Parsons case, authorities under pressure acted more decisively in investigating the alleged assault,” Inquisitr reports. Anonymous was also active in the Steubenville rape case earlier this year.

Over on Twitter, Anonymous is taking its case to the Internet: