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# Canadian Hacktivist and Alleged Anonymous Co-Founder Arrested for 2021 Texas GOP Website Hack
- URL: https://darkwebinformer.com/canadian-hacktivist-and-alleged-anonymous-co-founder-arrested-for-2021-texas-gop-website-hack/
- Published: 2025-03-29T16:15:49.000Z
- Updated: 2025-09-04T22:23:06.000Z
- Author: Dark Web Informer
- Tags: News

Canadian authorities have arrested **Aubrey Cottle**, a 37-year-old from Oshawa, Ontario, in connection with the **2021 cyberattack on the Texas Republican Party's website**.

Cottle, known online as **"Kirtaner"**, is accused of breaching a third-party web hosting provider’s systems, defacing the [**Texas GOP’s official website**](https://www.kxan.com/investigations/anonymous-hacker-group-co-founder-arrested-tied-to-2021-texas-gop-web-hack/), and stealing a server backup containing sensitive data, including **personally identifiable information (PII)**. That stolen data was later leaked online, and Cottle openly claimed responsibility on various social media platforms.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6b/16/6b16ac9c-cd67-432f-b0f3-bbec941084ff/content/images/2025/03/8762389756876235.jpg)

Redacted image from 2021 Texas GOP Website Hack

Court records show the Federal Bureau of Investigation worked with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Canada, to execute a search warrant at Cottle’s residence, where they **seized approximately 20 terabytes of data**.

A criminal complaint unsealed by the **U.S. Department of Justice** charges Cottle with **unlawful possession and transfer of identification information** with intent to commit a crime. [If convicted, he faces a maximum of **5 years in prison**](https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtx/pr/united-states-unseals-charges-theft-texas-republican-party-data#:~:text=AUSTIN%2C%20Texas%20%E2%80%93%20The%20Department%20of,Texas%20Republican%20Party%20in%202021.). The case is being handled by the **FBI Austin Cyber Task Force** with support from Canadian law enforcement.

Cottle has long been linked to the **Anonymous hacktivist collective** and previously boasted of involvement in cyberattacks targeting right-wing platforms and crowdfunding services.

This arrest reflects growing international collaboration to combat politically motivated cyberattacks and cross-border data theft.