FBI apparently raid ‘gay furry hackers’ behind Project 2025 hack

SiegedSec’s leader has gone silent

Months after the disbanded "gay furry hacker" group SiegedSec targeted the conservative American thinktank The Heritage Foundation, the group’s leader has apparently been raided by federal agents.

The raid comes after SiegedSec released data related to the thinktank, which proposed the sweeping reforms to the US government known as Project 2025, last year.

Multiple sources connected to SiegedSec believe that the leader, vio, may have been the target of a federal raid conducted last week. News of the raid surfaced on Wednesday via an X post from @mewmrrpmeow, a former SiegedSec member.

"I regret to inform you that vio's location was raided earlier today," the post stated. "She is no longer accessible, contactable, or reliable. I'm available to address any inquiries you may have."

Ryan Fae, an independent journalist who has extensively covered SiegedSec's activities in the past, vouched for @mewmrrpmeow's prior involvement with the group, but said the raid had not been independently verified.

Fae reported that vio's Signal account, which had been active and responsive earlier last week, was no longer accepting messages – a potential indication that communication had been severed.

Hacker maia arson crimew, known for uncovering the US No Fly list on an unsecured server in 2023, also weighed in on the situation.

Crimew confirmed @mewmrrpmeow's former ties to SiegedSec, describing the unfolding events as an "ongoing situation regarding a potential raid on a SiegedSec member."

SiegedSec, which self-identified as a group of "gay furry hackers," gained notoriety in July 2024 after releasing 2GB of data allegedly stolen from the Heritage Foundation.

The data breach, part of SiegedSec's "OpTransRights" campaign, ignited a firestorm of accusations and threats.

SiegedSec, which had previously targeted government websites in protest of anti-trans and anti-abortion legislation, focused its efforts on the Heritage Foundation due to its role in developing Project 2025, a set of policy proposals favoured by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Project 2025 aimed to consolidate executive power, enforce Christian values across government and society and defund climate science initiatives. Many of the proposals have since become government policy.

The Heritage Foundation, known for its staunchly conservative stance on issues such as abortion, LGBT rights and climate change, has faced widespread criticism from progressive groups.

After the data leak, CyberScoop reported that the data included "full names, email addresses, passwords and usernames," some belonging to individuals with US government addresses.

At the time, "vio" told the outlet the release was intended to provide transparency into the Heritage Foundation's funding and support.

The group also claimed to possess an additional 200GB of "mostly useless" data, which it did not plan to release.

The Heritage Foundation disputed the claim of a hack. They said the data originated from "a two-year-old archive of [Heritage Foundation's media arm] The Daily Signal website that was available on a public-facing website owned by a contractor."

SiegedSec disbanded in July 2024, citing mounting "mental health" concerns and the "stress of mass publicity" as contributing factors for the dissolution.

In a farewell message posted on Telegram, they also cited efforts to "avoid the eye of the FBI," suggesting they were aware that law enforcement was closing in.

Despite the mounting speculation, the FBI has declined to confirm or deny the alleged raid.

When contacted by The Daily Dot, the agency responded with a standard statement, saying, "The FBI does not have a comment on the matter."