Canadian police have reopened the case of a teenage girl who was allegedly gang raped after her suicide led online activists Anonymous to threaten to 'do their job for them'.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, with its population of a little under 400,000, is promoted as a place devoted to outdoor pursuits, with over 150 parks. But on Sunday 14 April, a large group of people gathered outside the police station in protest against something far from wholesome. "Do your job. Do your job," the protesters chanted, in response to the death a week ago of 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons, who committed suicide after allegedly being raped by four boys, photographed during the attack and then viciously bullied. "Do your job," the protesters warned police, "before somebody else does it for you."
Several protesters wore V for Vendetta masks, the distinctive white masks worn by members of hacktivist network Anonymous, which had called for the protest in a bid to force Canadian authorities to review the decision not to press charges against anyone following Parsons' rape complaint in November 2011. Anonymous claims to have identified two of the alleged rapists and believes it is only a matter of time before it knows them all.
"We engaged #OpJustice4Rehtaeh in response to her suicide," Anonymous explained in a video broadcast last week. "We want the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] to take immediate action against the individuals in question … We do not approve of vigilante action. The names will be kept until it becomes apparent you have no intention of providing justice. Better act fast."
Source: https://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/apr/15/hacktivism-rehtaeh-parsons-rape