Daily Stormer 'hacked': Nazi website 'taken over by Anonymous hacking group' after Charlottesville white nationalist rally

The white nationalist group might have encouraged the hack itself

Flowers and a photo of Heather Heyer lie at a makeshift memorial in Charlottesville (Reuters)

Anonymous have taken over the world’s most notorious Nazi website, following clashes with white nationalists over the weekend that left one anti-fascist protestor dead, it has been claimed, though the attack may have been staged.

A post on the Daily Stormer website attributed to the hacking group said that the site was now under its control and that it would stop it posting “putrid hate”. It also suggested that it will release data that had been taken as part of the attack, as well as suggesting it could conduct attacks on its leader.

The site is to remain online for 24 hours “so the world can witness the hate”, the group said. After that it will be shut down forever, they claimed.

Because of the nature of Anonymous – a loosely-grouped organisation with which anyone can claim affinity – it's not possible to verify the claims or even be sure whether the hack was being done by an established account. "We have no confirmation that 'Anonymous' is involved yet," a Twitter account associated with the group posted.

One of the biggest Anonymous Twitter accounts, Your Anon News, said that it didn't have confirmation the attack was being done by Anonymous. It even suggested that the Daily Stormer itself could have put the post up as a distraction.

According to the post on the Daily Stormer website, the cyber attack was done in the name of Heather Heyer, the anti-fascist protestor who died when a car was driven into counter protestors during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. A statement posted onto the Daily Stormer website said Ms Heyer was a “victim of white supremacist terrorism”.

Ms Heyer died during unrest in Charlottesville as counter-protestors attempted to stop a “unite the right” rally in the city that included protestors from groups including the Ku Klux Klan. The protests began in response to a plan to remove a statue, but violence erupted and the city was forced to declare a state of emergency in response to the far-right protest.

The Daily Stormer had supported that protest, as well as historically giving support to many of the groups that called for and participated in it.

“For too long the Daily Stormer and Andrew Angling have spewed their putrid hate on the site,” a statement from Anonymous that was posted as a story on the website read. “That will not be happening anymore.”

The same statement suggested that Anonymous had got access to private files and information during the attack.

“We have all the details on the servers and will be releasing the data when we feel the time is right,” it continued. “We have also gathered locational data on Anglin himself and are sending our allies in Lagos to pay him a visit in person.

“This evil cannot be allowed to stand.

“The events of Charlottesville alerted us to the need for immediate action.”

The statement said that it had taken a “united force of elite hackers from around the world to breach the systems and the firewall”. The statements’ claims to have breached the most central parts of the website can’t be independently verified.

All of the website’s posts are still online, including those that were put up just hours before the statement claiming control from Anonymous. But the top of the homepage now includes a link to that site, and a large picture of the Guy Fawkes mask that is associated with the group.