A suspect who was wanted by police and the FBI in connection with videos posted onto YouTube that threaten the University of Pittsburgh has been arrested and taken into police custody. 24 year old Alexander Waterland from Ohio was tracked down after the FBI traced the internet activity responsible for the YouTube videos to his residence.
Waterland posted a video threatening the University of Pittsburgh that a group of activists called ‘Anonymous’ would hack the school’s secured computer system and gain access to faculty and student data if they didn’t publicly apologize for failing to safeguard student welfare. “We also would like to state that we are NOT going to release the information unless Pitt admins … follow our very simple request!’ The threat read.
Whilst searching Waterland’s apartment, the FBI discovered pictures of people in Guy Fawkes masks that match images of the ‘Anonymous’ activist group. His phone also contained images that match those used within the YouTube videos.
The threats caused a loss of operations at the school, which also had to deal with a couple of months of bomb threats. The bomb threats are still under investigation. Waterland now faces charges of extortion involving a securely protected computer and interstate threats.
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