We know that the group Anonymous has been waiting for this posting. So we will now make our statement on the protests against BART tonight and the circumstances that led to tonight's protest.
There was a planned protest against BART concerning the shooting by BART Police of a homeless man on the platform on July 3rd at the Civic Center Station. An initial protest was held in late July to protest the killing of this individual. We will not comment on this killing. However, there was a follow-up protest that was planned for last Thursday. That protest did not take place because BART decided, amongst other measures, to cut off cell phone service in its four downtown stations to prevent protest organizers from coordinating the protest and inconveniencing rush hour commuters.
Unfortunately, the international hacker group Anonymous, which has been known into several government and business sites, waged war against BART. They pledged to bring down the main
BART site yesterday. Anonymous was unsuccessful in doing so. However, they were able to hack into another
BART site and published the personal information (name, email address, home address, phone number and passwords) of 2001 people.
Let's put all of this into perspective.
First -- to BART -- there was no reason for you to turn off cell phone service. The Shadow understands the rationale behind your doing it, but that does not make it correct. You put public safety at risk (what if someone had a true emergency and the landline phone was not available). This was totally irresponsible and you owe your riders an apology. However, we do understand that there should be no protests in the paid areas of BART as we are totally behind you in this regard. But you need to find a balance between public safety and the right of people to commnicate.
Our wrath for the evening, however, goes to the group Anonymous.
We are in support of your belief that free speech should not be hindered. And that includes not shutting off cell phone service in the BART stations.
However, we are not in agreement with your methods.
Yesterday, you hacked one of the satellite sites of BART. In doing so, you published the names of 2001 INNOCENT PEOPLE's personal information. These people have nothing to do with the dispute between you and BART.. There was ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to publish this information. We are demanding that Anonymous order the third-party site that contains this information to be taken down immediately.
We have seen the apologies to these innocent people. "We are sorry for publishing your information, but you should be asking why BART did not protect your information." This is not an apology. This is a justification. It is unacceptable.
Today, you coordinated a shut-down of BART during the evening commute in the Bay Area. Again, you are inconveniencing people who have absolutely nothing to do with this dispute. The Shadow, among others, was inconvenienced by this action and could not get to his home in a timely manner. This is unacceptable and probably moved more people against your cause than to toward it.
Let the record stand clear -- The Shadow does not support your actions.
Earlier on
Twitter, The Shadow offered a challenge to meet with a member of Anonymous. We will meet with you anywhere you wish and you are free to wear whatever mask or other measure to conceal your identity that you wish. We know that you have met with the San Francisco news media tonight. If you are brave enough to meet with us, email us
here. We will keep you anonymous provided you agree to keep our identity secret as well. We will meet in costume. We know that you will not take us up on this, but if you do, we promise to give you an open forum.
In the meantime, both BART and Anonymous owes the Bay Area a major apology. We will keep you apprised of our progress.
Good night and good luck.
