Anonymous’ next target: Maryville, Missouri
Yesterday, the Star published a harrowing story about Maryville officials dropping a case involving the 2012 rape of 14-year-old Daisy Coleman by high-school senior Matthew Barnett. Coleman’s family was essentially run out of Maryville, while Barnett – whose grandfather is Missouri state Rep. Rex Barnett – is off partying at the University of Central Missouri. The Coleman’s house later burned down under suspicious circumstances. It’s a disgusting, infuriating story, but it’s very well-reported and you should absolutely read it. (KCUR also covered the story back in July.)
The story was subsequently picked up by Gawker and has since made the rounds online. This morning, hacktivist network Anonymous – which has gone after the Church of Scientology, Westboro Baptist Church, Paypal and various foreign governments – declared war on Maryville.
Two young girls have been raped in the town of Maryville, Missouri. Another high school football star, the grandson of a Missouri state official, has walked free. The people of Maryville turned their backs on these victims and one family has been forced to flee the town. Their house was later burned to the ground…
We demand an immediate investigation into the handling by local authorities of Daisy’s case. Why was a suspect, who confessed to a crime, released with no charges? How was video and medical evidence not enough to put one of these football players inside a court room? What is the connection of these prosecutors, if any, to Rep. Rex Barnett? Most of all, We are wondering, how do the residents of Maryville sleep at night?
We have heard Daisy’s story far too often. We heard it from Steubenville, Halifax and Uttar Pradesh. In some cases, it was too late. Both Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons, girls not much older than Daisy, took their own lives after the adults, the police and the school system, failed to protect them. 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.
Full text here. They’re hashtagging it on Twitter at #OpMaryville and #Justice4Daisy.
