Wanted member of Anonymous claims group has more classified data, safe havens in Canada

A high-ranking member of Anonymous recently revealed that the group has access to every classified database in the U.S. But what’s more interesting is the way Anonymous obtained this information.

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“It’s a matter of when we leak the contents of those databases, not if,” Anonymous member Christopher Doyon, (a.k.a. Commander X) told Canadian publication the National Post in an interview. “You know how we got access? We didn’t hack them. The access was given to us by the people who run the systems.”

Doyon is currently wanted by the FBI, facing a 15-year prison sentence for his participation in assaulting the official Santa Cruz, Calif. website after government officials forcibly removed a homeless encampment from the courthouse steps. More or less, he brands Anonymous as one of the most powerful organizations on the planet because of its access and unwillingness to yield to authority. And while Anonymous’ effectiveness can’t be doubted at this point, I tend to associate the word “organization” with any group that has a clear structure of power and communication.

However, when every member of your group is either wanted or being closely monitored for information on the whereabouts of each member, it makes it sort of difficult to develop any such order. Besides, the very structure of Anonymous is inimical to any kind of central control. That’s not stopping Doyon, who has set up shop in Canada, which he brands as a safe haven for Anonymous and sympathetic to Anonymous’ cause.

In the interview Doyon says:

“We have a lot of contacts in the Canadian government. We were well prepared when I came here, we have an underground railway, and safe houses in Canada. We might be wrong, but our understanding is that the Canadian government is about equally concerned with Anonymous and the United States. Their approach will be: ‘Step lively, don’t stay long, and you’ll be fine.’ So we’re in negotiation with several countries in Europe to try to get a permanent political asylum situation set up for myself as well as for any other Anons and information activists who might need it. … It’s too bad Canada will not find the political courage to protect information activists from America like they did in the ‘60s with the draft dodgers. That’s the reality of it, but they will probably not actively seek to track me down.”

Giving anonymous political asylum in any of the European countries would be an interesting development, but also one that I don’t see happening anytime soon. While the U.S. is the country most actively pursuing Anonymous, it certainly isn’t the only one. Any country that allowed this activity to continue happening would be branded as an enemy of the state.

Photo via Pedro Rufo / Shutterstock