Citizens in masks gathered in downtown Phoenix and protested as part of the activist group Anonymous in the Million Mask March on Tuesday.
The march started at 10 a.m. in Civic Space Park. Anonymous members and supporters, equipped with Guy Fawkes masks, bandannas, signage and fliers, went down Central Avenue, turned on Jefferson Street and went toward the Arizona Capitol Building. The marchers then returned down Adams Street and repeated the process several times throughout the day.
Along the way, the marchers would chant out and display signs against genetically modified organisms, the Federal Reserve System, the National Security Agency and the possibility of a police state.
The march was organized as part of an international Million Mask March, with Anonymous participants in over 450 cities honoring the Fifth of November.
There was some support for the march throughout from bystanders.
“We’ve gotten, generally, a very positive response out of people,” said Walter Wensel, who had a hand in organizing the event. Wensel said people honked their horns from their cars and people along the way cheered in support of Anonymous’ protest.
The Million Mask March was not without incident. One individual had attempted to burn the marchers’ fliers with a lighter and spat at the marchers. One of the people the man spat on was Luis Pedraza, who was involved in helping promote the march.
“When he spat on (Pedraza), (Pedraza) just said, ‘You may not like us, but we love you and we’re fighting for you,’” Wensel said of the incident.
Police officers detained the man who spat at the protesters, but the protesters decided not to press charges.
Toward the end of the protest, a man who was unknown to the marchers and the event organizers presented a written speech presenting his ideas to the rest of the protesters and had them say the speech along with him.
“He is Anonymous,” said Ryan Day, who was with Pedraza, Wensel and other members of Anonymous in planning the march in Phoenix.
While Day and the other Anonymous members helped organize the local Million Mask March in downtown Phoenix, they were initially chosen by another Anonymous member to be in charge of this march.
“We were pretty much given this opportunity by another Anon,” Day said. “They said, ‘You’re gonna be in charge of this march. Do whatever you want. Good luck.’”
Day, Pedraza, Wensel and the other three members of Anonymous who were involved in organizing the event had made the Facebook event page for the march. The group had been planning the march for six months and promoted the event by handing out fliers, posting on the Internet and through word of mouth.
Unlike the characterization of Anonymous as hackers who have shut down websites and fought against corrupt government over computer screens, the marchers presented themselves as a different kind of Anonymous.
“We are not the hackers,” Pedraza said. “We are the street team.”
The event also brought together people who had never met before under one collective idea via Anonymous.
“Even though we don’t know each other, we’ve all got each other’s backs,” Day said.
The group noted, however, that this march would not have been possible or successful without the participation of the other marchers. And while several people during the march had their own messages to spread, progress was made toward the march’s goal of raising awareness on a variety of issues.
“As long as one person changes their mind about our government and as long as one person hears our message, then we did our job,” Wensel said.
Contact the reporter at dcleland@asu.edu
