They’re From the Internet
Even though I just got back from Hawaii, I couldn’t resist at least passing by Anonymous‘ protest of Scientology’s Boston office on L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday. Not being a member and not really following 4chan at all, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
The main impression I had was that they were really well-organised and on-message for a bunch of random, anonymous internet people. There was a fair amount of meme-shouting, but the dominant chant was “TAX THE CULT”, and most of the signs reflected that theme and/or pointed people to xenu.net for more information.
The Anonymous were also being very mindful of non-protesters. Someone would always shout “Clear the sidewalk!” when pedestrians were coming, and they redirected some poor, lost drivers who tried to turn the wrong way onto Beacon Street. (Mainly by shouting “EPIC FAIL!” at them while waving them in the right direction.)
While I was there, I heard somebody doing a headcount, and he was up to 100 when he passed by me. The quick visual scan I did pretty much lined up with that.
While the protest was very much on-message for the most part, they used humour well to keep the energy going. E.g., “Anonymous Prime” showed up and there was naturally somebody there with a boombox to rickroll the protest. At one point, a FedEx van stopped at the light and somebody shouted, “Scientology uses UPS!”, prompting the FedEx driver to honk. Several people had signs asking people to honk in support of the protest; I hope somebody tried to count.
Anyway, I didn’t stay for long, and when I left there was no sign that the protest would be ending any time soon. So I hope one of The Anonymous will put up a more complete description of the events, as one did for the London event in February.
P.s.: Since I commented on police brutality at Florida protests last month, I should take a brief moment to commend the Boston PD for being fair and reasonable at the Anonymous protest. During the brief time I was there, the police only had about five or six officers on duty, and they were mostly just asking some of the overzealous Anonymous to stay out of the street. Nobody got arrested, beat up, or maced while I was there. I’ve been looking around for other news stories and blog posts and YouTube videos, but none of them I’ve seen so far mention any arrests. So thanks for not sucking, BPD.
P.p.s.: Apparently there were arrests in Atlanta. What I read is that they were arrested for protesting without a permit, after being told they didn’t need one. I wonder who told them that?
March 15th, 2008 18:41
Tax the cult, and add all the religious leaders who tell their followers how to vote!!
March 15th, 2008 18:42
I tried to add you to my MY Yahoo, but Word Press sites don’t seem to be added.
March 16th, 2008 04:15
Excuse Me, We’re From the Net…
Both Joshua and I found ourselves passing by the Anonymous people protesting the Church of Scientology today:
At a rough estimate, there were probably a little over a hundred people present at noon — pretty good turnout for a Stand Alone Complex…
March 18th, 2008 17:43
One reason the protesters want to remain anonymous is that they don’t want their lives disrupted, their asses sued, or their dog drowned (which happened to a judge on a Scientology case).
March 19th, 2008 01:51
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