The Million Mask March movement, an organized protest by the international network of anti-establishment activists and hacktivists known as Anonymous, took place in cities across the U.S. and around the world Tuesday.
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As millions of Americans took to the polls to support their candidate of choice, thousands of others took the streets of Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and other cities to protest the government, which they view as invasive and oppressive.
Most of the protesters wore the Guy Fawkes mask, popularized by the graphic novel "V for Vendetta," which was adapted into a film in 2005, and has become a symbol for the anti-government movement.
In a YouTube video titled a "Message to All Americans," a masked Anonymous spokesman promoted the Nov. 5 global protest by connecting it to the Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War, which he characterized as a "war against banks, a war against taxes and an oppressive state, a war against the greed of a few and their desire to control the many."
"It is now 2013 and a similar war is starting… a war against oppression and tyranny," the spokesman said. "The U.S. government is now controlled by corporations and banks. They desire to control the many wants [of the people] and are working hard to stop any form of rebellion. The time to act is now."
The
Guardian reported that the Million Mask March global protest involved some 400 cities around the world, with celebrities such as Russell Brand joining London's protest to show support for the movement.
In Washington D.C., several hundred protesters gathered outside the Washington Monument before marching to the White House and then continuing on to the Capitol,
The Washington Post reported.
The Post noted that many of those in the D.C. march were affiliated with the Occupy movement.
The Anonymous video promoting the Nov. 5 protest ends with a somewhat ominous warning to bankers, politicians and other linked to the government.
"Rise against the real traitors, rise against the people behind the government. This is an aggressive stance to show that we will live as free men and women," the spokesman said.
"A message to law enforcement and federal agents, please open your eyes, you are defending tyranny and they will lie to you calling us traitors and terrorists," the spokesman continued. "We want all people to live free and pursue happiness. This is a message to you bankers, expect us, the corrupt fear us, the honest support us, the heroic join us."
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