[Peace-discuss] (no subject)

[David Johnson]

Outspoken critic of the government, Russell Brand, joined thousands of protestors in London on Tuesday.


A protestor wears a Guy Fawkes mask during a protest in London on Tuesday, 5 November. (Twitter: @KetyDC)

The protest was part of a global Million Mask March which was organised by the online hactivist collective known as Anonymous and which took place simultaneously in 400 cities around the world.


While it is difficult to get an exact estimate of the number of people involved in the London protest tonight, the number was certainly in the thousands.

While the march was peaceful in the main, there were a number of outbreaks of violence when police attempted to move protestors - though these incidents were in the minority.


No arrests


The Metropolitian Police said there were no arrests made at the protest tonight.

Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square from early on Tuesday afternoon and by 6pm, the official start time of the event, thousands of people were milling around the central London location.

Many were wearing the iconic Guy Fawkes mask which has been appropriated by groups like Anonymous and the Occupy movement in recent years. The Million Mask March was organised to coincide with the Guy Fawkes Day celebrations.


Russell Brand at the Anonymous-orgnaised Million Mask March in London's Trafalgar Square on Tuesday, 5 November. (Twitter: @SpaceMonkey0000)
While the stated aim of the UK protest was to tell the UK government that "enough is enough" others took it as an opportunity to highlight other perceived injustices - including badger culling.

However most of the attention in Trafalgar Square was given to Russell Brand, who was in the middle of the crowd wearing a Guy fawkes mask, speaking with protestors and having his picture taken with them.

Democratic process

Brand has hit the headlines recently following an interview he gave to Newsnight where he advocated revolution though he was criticized about the indifference he  showed toward voting and the democratic process.          

In an article written for the Guardian ahead of the Million Mask March on Tuesday, Brand responded to the fallout from the Newsnight interview:

"Luckily with organisations like them, Occupy, Anonymous and The People's Assembly I don't need to come with ideas, we can all participate. I'm happy to be a part of the conversation, if more young people are talking about fracking instead of twerking we're heading in the right direction."


A protestor poses in a Guy Fawkes mask in front of police protecting Westminster Abbey as part of Anonymous' Million Mask March. (IBTimes UK)
Just after 6.30pm the protestors headed from Trafalgar Square and after briefly being held just outside Downing Street, the march was given a police escort down Whitehall to Parliament Square where the protestors were contained within the shadow of Big Ben.

The march did cause traffic disruption throughout central London with one No. 159 bus to Streatham getting blockaded by protestors with some banging on the front window and taunting the driver. One protestor even managed to climb onto the front of the bus, raising the biggest cheer of the night.

By 8pm a large proportion of the crowd had dissapated but still hundreds remained. The protests finally moved down the Mall and to Buckingham Palace
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