Hacktivists Discover Arizona Cops are as Paranoid as they are Racist

It's safe to say Arizona has entered the Tyson/Sheen Zones. Bill Simmons, the incredibly talented social and sports columnist for ESPN and Grantland.com, invented what he called the Tyson Zone. Named for Mike Tyson, the Tyson Zone is the place where athletes or celebrities go when their behavior becomes so ridiculous and outrageous that you will believe any story you hear about them. To give an idea of the scope of the Tyson Zone, it has since been renamed the Sheen Zone after Charlie Sheen. Is there anything Arizona could do that would shock anyone? They've already decided to go full speed ahead with state-sponsored racism, granting police the right to stop anyone with skin darker than "mormon" or a burrito in their left hand. Their insistence that Mexican-Americans provide "papers" to police officers who demand them (again, without probable cause) on demand reminds astute history students of pre-war Nazi Germany. It is little wonder, then, why hacktivists have targeted Arizona, particularly their law enforcement, with laser-like focus. Before they disbanded this weekend and joined Anonymous, LulzSec uncovered and dumped a massive document showing Arizona cops set out to subvert the Constitution's protections on privacy. Probably the only surprise here is that the cops are going after Caucasians, too. I guess that's some sort of progress for Arizona. "We are targeting AZDPS specifically because we are against SB1070 law and the racial profiling anti-immigrant police state that is Arizona," LulzSec said in a press release. "Hackers of the world are uniting and taking direct action against our common oppressorss—the government, corporations, police, and militaries of the world." Anyway, Lulzsec uncovered that Arizona cops are taught to seize the iPhones of citizens, and go through the phone for applications that might make police nervous. What applications? One they mention, "Cop Recorder" (now known as Open Watch) lets you use your iPhone to capture audio (and now video) without the police officer knowing you're filming him. Why would the cops be against citizens recording them? Could it be that police in Arizona are doing illegal, unethical things to citizens they pull over? Are they planting evidence? Are they getting around the 4th Amendment or skipping Miranda warnings? Or are they just bumbling idiots who couldn't out-smart Barney Fife? The hackers also found that cops have been instructed to take iPhones and place them in so-called Faraday Bags, to prevent users from remotely wiping them clean of any incriminating evidence. (I guess that leaves plans B, C, and D for leaving no trail.) Another interesting tidbit, although a bit more controversial, is what the hackers uncovered about secret informants for the government. The documents classified as “law enforcement sensitive”, “not for public distribution”, and “for official use only” are primarily related to border patrol and counter-terrorism operations and describe the use of informants to infiltrate various gangs, cartels, motorcycle clubs, Nazi groups, and protest movements. “These individuals maliciously released confidential information knowing the safety of DPS employees, and their families, would be compromised. A threat to release more DPS files demonstrates how heinous the hackers are willing to act. The AHPA would like to see the people brought to justice and prosecuted to the highest degree of the law.” Well, you know the saying. Snitches get stiches. #antisec