Who Is On New ISIS Hit List? US Celebrities, Religious Leaders, Politicians Targets Of Pro-ISIS Hacking Group

A pro-ISIS hacking group released a new hit list this week of people in the U.S. that they are encouraging lone-wolf attackers to go after. The ISIS-linked hacking group called the United Cyber Caliphate, or UCC, put out a new video threatening everyone on the list, saying that names and addresses will be released to pro-ISIS followers who want to go after individuals on the hit list.

This new ISIS hit list follows a previous hit list last year that also called for lone-wolf attacks, and it reportedly includes thousands of names of U.S. celebrities, religious leaders, and politicians. Questions are now being asked as to where the ISIS hit list is and who exactly is on it.

ISIS-linked hackers from United Cyber Caliphate group release 8,786-name ‘kill list’ for US & UK https://t.co/iJl4hWMMm8 #SITE pic.twitter.com/r2xUPCwQkS

— RT (@RT_com) April 6, 2017

The message included in the six-minute UCC video specifically names President Donald Trump as one target of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, better known as ISIS. Other prominent U.S. figures are also reportedly on the new ISIS hit list that includes nearly 9,000 names, along with home addresses.

Similar ISIS hit lists have been put out before, according to Reuters in an article that says “kill lists” are a common practice for pro-ISIS followers. Previous ISIS hit lists reportedly only targeted public officials and religious leaders but now include names of celebrities, members of the military, Muslims, and even random citizens who denounce the terrorist group.

The Sun reports that people in the U.K., Afghanistan, and Canada are also included on the newest ISIS hit list, although the UCC only specifically calls out “people of the U.S.” in the most recent video message, which was posted on the private messaging app Telegram on Sunday night. The video message, part of the UCC #Demolishing_Fences campaign, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, ordered anyone watching to take out a list of over 8,000 names “wherever you find them.”

The ISIS hit list is intended to inspire pro-ISIS supporters to carry out lone-wolf attacks anywhere in the world. However, according to Newsmax, it’s not known if anyone on any of the previous ISIS hit lists have ever actually been killed. But that doesn’t stop people from wanting to know “if we’re on it or not.”

Stuart Kaplan, a former FBI agent, says that knowing you’re on the list doesn’t prevent an ISIS sympathizer from doing “something horrific to you,” adding that there’s not “much authorities can do to protect those on the list.”

Comments across social media seem to think that the press would “never say so” if anyone on the new ISIS hit list, or previous ISIS hit lists, have ever been targeted or hit because of their name and address being on the list.

“I wonder how you can find out whether you’re on the list. I’d like to know, in order to increase my family alertness level if necessary,” said one comment.

An article on Dennis Michael Lynch claims that only 10 minutes after UCC posted the video message, the new ISIS hit list was posted, and that more than 7,000 of the 8,786 names on the list were American citizens, including addresses, phone numbers, and emails.

“This group has released several ‘kill lists’ in the past and so far there’s been no confirmed incident of someone on the list being directly targeted or attacked.”

Unknown is how serious the threat is to the names on the new ISIS hit list, but that doesn’t stop people from wanting to know, “How does one get a copy of this list?” U.S. citizens would “sure like to know” that the U.S. government would let them know if they’re on that list.

The Daily Mail reports that the UCC, formed about a year ago by three pro-ISIS hacking groups, has released numerous ISIS hit lists in the past, but none with home addresses — “only phone numbers and zip codes.”

Some big-name Hollywood celebrities have reportedly been quietly named as targets by ISIS for at least a year, and a celebrity hit list was found on a lone-wolf ISIS killer last year, following a double murder just north of Paris by Frenchman Larossi Abballa, who responded after another ISIS appeal to kill non-believers, according to the Guardian.

Vocativ says that targets on the new ISIS hit list posted over this past weekend by the UCC include a total of more than 3,000 addresses in California, Florida, Washington, Texas, Illinois, and New York, adding that it’s unclear why those specific names were selected.

CounterJihad claims they have a copy of the new ISIS hit list, and the FBI has not yet notified people who are on it. To find out if you’re on the ISIS hit list, CounterJihad adds that anyone who provides their “name and primary email privately” will be notified if found to be a match and also told how to contact the FBI for a follow-up.

[Featured Image by Craig Ruttle/AP Images]