Even with the extensive security precautions being taken by authorities for the big convention in Tampa this week, tensions are still running high and everyone will need to be on their toes. There was a brief rumor making the rounds that aerial drones and armed, ground based robots would be in use. That story has since been shot down by the authorities, (no pun intended) but the story did highlight one area of concern which receiving a fair amount of scrutiny. (Emphasis mine.)

But police are expecting thousands of protesters to descend on the area for the convention, scheduled to kick off Sunday night with a party for media and delegates at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. The first sessions are scheduled for Monday and protests are expected throughout the event, set to run through Aug. 30, weather permitting.

Thursday, a new YouTube video, purportedly from the hacking collective known as Anonymous, surfaced, calling on protesters to disable surveillance cameras, jam police radio systems and tear down barricades. That video comes on the heels of one posted on YouTube last week saying that peaceful protest is passé.

We normally think of Anonymous in terms of hacking the websites of agencies, disrupting e-commerce and generally fighting any sort of battle which can be managed from behind a keyboard. But this is something different. Here’s the first of two videos purportedly from the hacker group. (As a side note, I would observe that if the people producing these videos would apply their technical skills to something productive, such as marketing, they might make a pretty good living. The technical quality isn’t bad at all.)

Anonymous RNC Battle Objectives Preparedness Plan

Toward the end, after laying out plans to disrupt police communications, tear down barriers and disable security cameras, the speaker begins to “deal with” the subject of large corporate offices in Tampa.

All over the city of Tampa there are corrupt corporate buildings. A map of the locations where these corporate places can be found at [website redacted]. These corporate places should be dealt with, but the small businesses should be left alone. Unless, of course, there is a Mitt Romney sticker in their window. Ha ha.

I wasn’t aware that buildings were corrupt, but there you go. We’ll finish up with another video allegedly released by the perpetrators. This one, once again, demonstrates some really remarkable production quality and marketing skills along with the overarching theme of anarchy and violence, cloaked in a veneer of caring about the common man. The bits about the RNC come toward the very end.

Stay on your toes out there and I’ll try to keep my eyes open while I’m in town.