Anonymous Takes Down Munitions Vendor Safariland After Sheriffs Attack #NoDAPL

Oecti Sakowin, ND – On the night of Sunday November 20, the Morton County Sheriff deployed large amounts of tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and other ‘less-lethal’ ammunition, including a water cannon, upon #NoDAPL water protectors. This happened north of the Backwater Bridge on Highway 1806 after the water protectors had tried to remove two burnt military trucks that were blocking the roadway.

Over 160 people were injured as a result of the Sheriff’s use of less-lethal weaponry on the crowd. Several people were hospitalized, including one in critical condition. 21-year-old Sophia Wilansky from New York has undergone surgery for a terrible arm injury suffered by a grenade attack from police.

Several remains of less-lethal munitions shells were recovered by Unicorn Riot reporters at the scene on Highway 1806 that night. All appeared to be products manufactured by Defense Technology, a brand operated by law enforcement vendor Safariland Group. Unicorn Riot reported Nov. 16th that FEMA’s Field Force Operations training manual frequently references Safariland gear.

"Riot Control CS" grenade, made by @SafarilandGroup, shot at #NoDAPL water protectors on Highway 1806 last night https://t.co/EYzrYUOabn pic.twitter.com/P0OZWCh5y8

— UNICORN RIOT (@UR_Ninja) November 22, 2016

Early Tuesday afternoon, shortly after a press conference held outside a hospital in Minneapolis about Sophia Wilansky’s injuries, Safariland Group’s website, Safariland.com was taken offline in an apparent Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack.

Twitter user @AzureDeadSec who identified themselves as “working with Anonymous” as part of the group #DeadSec, took credit for taking down Safariland.com.

#DeadSec is generally known for conducting online operations against the Islamic State. @AzureDeadSec told Unicorn Riot:

“I took down the website of the group selling anti-riot weapons to the police at DAPL. After what happened to that woman’s arm it is no longer acceptable for us to stand silent.” – @AzureDeadSec

The attack against Safariland Group’s website was first announced on Twitter at 1:24 PM central time.

Safariland.com appeared to go back online around 3:30 PM central. @AzureDeadSec told Unicorn Riot:

“The site will be going up and down throughout the day. It’s an intermittent digital protest, not a total sustained blackout.” – @AzureDeadSec

At 9:07 PM central on Tuesday night, #DeadSec tweeted that they had taken down safarixchange.com, the purchasing portal for Safariland products.

@TMTalways @UR_Ninja @Anon_Eu The SafariLand purchasing portal for buyers and suppliers is now K.O #TangoDown https://t.co/Vmoqit2urg pic.twitter.com/xpk76jl2IU

— DeadSec (@AzureDeadSec) November 23, 2016

They explained their decision to take this action:

“Took down the Safariland purchasing portal for buyers and suppliers. Decided to cause economic impact because their grenade will cost Sophia Wilansky thousands of dollars so the very least we can do is return the favor.” – @AzureDeadSec

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