Social Justice Warriors hack Klan Twitter account

[phiwum]

It is not illegal to be a member of any organization, even a criminal organization, in the USA. There is no such thing as an "outlawed group" in the USA. It is perfectly legal to be a member of IS, the KKK, the Latin Kings, or a mafia group. The US Constitution guarantees freedom of association, to charge and convict a member of a criminal organization that specific person has to be tied to a specific criminal act.

Evidently, I was half-remembering this law, which forbids providing "material support or resources" to a designated terrorist organization.

Apparently, "material support" has been interpreted to include "expert advice" (see this site), which has been controversial, since it seems to criminalize certain kinds of speech. For instance,

This provision has already served as the basis for the prosecution of a college student for running a website that happened to have links to other websites which in turn featured speeches by Muslim sheikhs advocating violent jihad. The prosecution's theory was that the student was providing material support in the form of "expert advice or assistance" by running the website and linking it to such statements. On the government's view, it did not need to prove that the student intended to further violence of any kind by including these links on his website. [The student was acquitted.]​

But, it's certainly not obvious that claiming "membership" in a terrorist group would violate this or any other law.

So, I think Wildcat is right on this point. You can't make the KKK "illegal" without violating rights of association, contrary to FoolMeWunz's suggestion.

Of course, I sure could be wrong, since I know little about the law.

 

[newyorkguy]

I'm not sure about the finer points of the law but I thought under RICO laws if someone is proven to be a member of an organized crime group they can be charged as a co-conspirator related to whatever illegal activities the group is charged with.

 

[Mumbles]

Yes, because their two histories are identical.

Right. I wouldn't mind much if the NBPP were driven to the edges of society, but really, they're mostly already there. And unlike the KKK, they're more about standing on streets and speechifying, than lighting crosses if the wrong color family moves into the neighborhood.

 

[Foolmewunz]

"This thread is about the Great and Powerful Oz, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain".

I see. So you know what the thread's about. It's not, as I foolishly believed, about "Social Justice Warriors hack Klan Twitter account". It's about whatever you deem it to be about.

Unless you are a hypocrite you would support the hacking of the New Black Panthers web site by Anonymous, and wish you could do their prison time for them if they were caught, yes?

When/if the story is complete, I may very well take that position. Can't say. Unlike this story, with actual evidence, there's none on offer yet in the bust of the two Panthers. (I'm conceding that they're members of the New Black Panthers, but haven't seen any details of just what kind of case is being made.) But if the case proves accurate as reported, then I'm absolutely in favor of Anonymous hacking their Twitter accounts and making their names known.

Since that's not necessary, as their names are public record, why would Anonymous do that? Just to satisfy your need for a "gotcha" on an internet forum. That must be a specialty branch of Anonymous that I hadn't heard of before.

 

[WildCat]

Yes, because their two histories are identical.

If we're going to hack web sites according to history shouldn't the Democratic Party be hacked since they supported slavery and Jim Crow laws and even the KKK back when they actually had influence?

 

[Unabogie]

If we're going to hack web sites according to history shouldn't the Democratic Party be hacked since they supported slavery and Jim Crow laws and even the KKK back when they actually had influence?

So you're comparing the two? The Democratic Party and the Klan? You don't think they've gone down divergent paths since then? Like for instance, the Democratic Party passed the Civil Rights Act and currently supports expanding services and voting rights to the black community. The KKK thinks black people are inferior and wants, well, what they've always wanted.

But in your mind there's no difference.

Fascinating.

 

[WildCat]

So you're comparing the two? The Democratic Party and the Klan? You don't think they've gone down divergent paths since then? Like for instance, the Democratic Party passed the Civil Rights Act and currently supports expanding services and voting rights to the black community.

Foolmewunz said that Anonymous was targeting the KKK because of their terrorist history. If that makes them fair game to be hacked then certainly the Democratic Party is also fair game, yes?

The KKK thinks black people are inferior and wants, well, what they've always wanted.

But in your mind there's no difference.

Fascinating.

Of course the KKK is a hate group, but that wasn't the issue I responded to. The issue I responded to was that the KKK was hacked because of their "history".

 

[newyorkguy]

Anonymous has already targeted the Democratic Party with OpDonkeyPunch which was aimed at limiting Democratic support for SOPA (Stop On Line Piracy).

Barrett Brown, often recognized as a public face of Anonymous, announced that his own group, Project PM, will be keeping an eye on Democratic congressmen who hope to “quietly support” the legislation. “Yesterday my ProjectPM group began preparations for a campaign to go after any Democratic congressmen who hope to quietly support SOPA without drawing any negative attention that might damage their cred among liberals,” Brown told the Daily Caller in an email. Daily Caller link

 

[WildCat]

Anonymous has already targeted the Democratic Party with OpDonkeyPunch which was aimed at limiting Democratic support for SOPA (Stop On Line Piracy).

What's the term for a group of people who attack the property of those with which they have differing political opinions?

 

[marplots]

What's the term for a group of people who attack the property of those with which they have differing political opinions?

Freedom fighters.

 

[newyorkguy]

That might sound snide but I think it's true. A lot depends on motives. Were the Colonists who boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and threw cargo overboard vandals and criminals? Is fighting to oppress a class of people the same as trying to fight the oppressors?

 

[marplots]

That might sound snide but I think it's true. A lot depends on motives. Were the Colonists who boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and threw cargo overboard vandals and criminals? Is fighting to oppress a class of people the same as trying to fight the oppressors?

Depends who wins.
It's like the ancient method of determining the right god. You fought it out on the battlefield, and whoever won obviously had the better god. Now, it's just political ideology instead of gods.

 

[newyorkguy]

Depends who wins.

I thought I was agreeing with you.

Depends who wins? Are Native Americans who fought white encroachment viewed as criminals by history?

 

[marplots]

I thought I was agreeing with you.

Depends who wins? Are Native Americans who fought white encroachment viewed as criminals by history?

Not so much as they used to be, but at the time and for awhile after? Yes.

I'm not quite old enough to have played "cowboys and Indians" as a child. But I'm betting the first was the good guy more often than the second.

ETA: We might be talking about two different views. I wouldn't dispute that academics ("real" historians) would paint quite a different picture than the culture at large. But there are two different objectives. The formal historian wants to understand, while the layperson only needs a good storyline.

 

[bit_pattern]

The Democratic Party engaged in terrorism now?

 

[WildCat]

The Democratic Party engaged in terrorism now?

At one time a lot of Democratic Party officeholders were members of the KKK. Sen. Robert Byrd is one such example, and he died in office not very long ago.

 

[ponderingturtle]

That might sound snide but I think it's true. A lot depends on motives. Were the Colonists who boarded British ships in Boston Harbor and threw cargo overboard vandals and criminals? Is fighting to oppress a class of people the same as trying to fight the oppressors?

Terrorists who deserved to be locked up for decades.

 

[Belz...]

You'd have a point if the Klan was some single, organized group with a continuous history. But it's simply not, the SPLC lists over 160 groups claiming the KKK name.

I realise that, but if they don't want to be associated with the Klan's context maybe they should have picked another name.

 

[WildCat]

I realise that, but if they don't want to be associated with the Klan's context maybe they should have picked another name.

I think they want to appear bigger than they actually are.

IMHO the various neo-Nazi skinhead groups are far more dangerous then the yahoos using the KKK name.

 

[TeapotCavalry]

You're coming to the defense of the KLAN now???

Go ahead, this should be entertaining. How exactly do you read something like this?

http://www.theroot.com/articles/cul...lethal_force_against_ferguson_protesters.html

I'm only vaguely familiar with Ferguson riots, but reading from the wiki: "Along with peaceful protests, there was looting and violent unrest in the vicinity of the original shooting". That in mind, and having had a similar riot (although not racially but ethnically charged) in our capital, that poster is something I'd be willing to get behind. What's your problem with that poster?