I first came across ‘Anonymous’ in 2008, at a protest the group organised against the Church of Scientology following attempts by the CoS to censor coverage of their activities on Internet sites, and also their attacks on their critics under a so-called ‘fair game’ policy which allowed them to carry out all sorts of dirty tricks on anyone they saw as an enemy of Scientology. Being anonymous then was important to avoid retaliation.
It was perhaps also important for a few to retain anonymity in the ‘Occupy’ movement although some suspect this was more the case for undercover police than the real protesters. Certainly by then the identities of those who wore the ‘V for Vendetta’ mask as regular protesters were largely well-known to the police.
Although both ‘Occupy’ and ‘Anonymous’ linger on, they do appear to have lost the momentum they once had, and I wasn’t surprised to find only a relatively small crowd – perhaps around a hundred people – gathered in Trafalgar Square for their ‘March for Freedom UK’. Of course it lacked the obvious Guy Fawkes connection of the much larger Bonfire Night protest last November. But among the faces, both masked and unmasked, were many familiar to me from Occupy London and other protests.
Charlie Chaplin is of course a face familiar to us all, and he was there too!
After a number of short speeches and a mime performance from Mr Chaplin, there was a suggestion it was time to march which was put to a public vote and appeared to be carried. Some set off immediately, while others took longer to organise themselves, but eventually almost everyone was waiting at the traffic lights at the southern edge of the square.
Rather curiously those at the front of the march did not seem very clear on what they were doing, and it was a police liaison officer who told them where to go.
It wasn’t really much like a march, more just a group of people going down the roadway, and it was perhaps only the masks that made it stand out.
Again as they reached Parliament, the protesters were unsure where to go, though this time they didn’t follow the police advice, but simply walked on and came to a stop outside Parliament where they held a rally.
Of course there is a great deal of common-sense in much of what they say. We do need to keep our National Health Service and to improve it rather than simply hand out lucrative contracts to private enterprise. We need reform to make our parliament reflect the needs of the people rather than the greed of a small minority, and so on. I’m not sure that this kind of event contributes much to achieving those aims, but at least it serves just a little to raise awareness of the problems.
More pictures at Anonymous March For Freedom UK.
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My London Diary : Buildings of London : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage
All photographs on this and my other sites, unless otherwise stated, are taken by and copyright of Peter Marshall, and are available for reproduction or can be bought as prints.
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