Million Mask March 2016: What time and where is the annual protest taking place?
What is the Million Mask March?
The Million Mask March, where anti-establishment protesters don V for Vendetta-inspired Guy Fawkes masks in hundreds of cities around the world, has been described as “the largest world protest”, at least by its own website.
It is organised by Anonymous, the anarchic ‘hacktivist’ network linked with cyber-attacks against governments including the US and Israel, terrorist organisations like Islamic State and the Ku Klux Klan, the Church of Scientology, multi-national corporations such as PayPal and Visa, child sexual abuse websites, the British National Party and defenders of media copyright, among others.
The movement is also closely identified with the Occupy protests, Wikileaks, and the Arab Spring.
The UK Anonymous website describes the march on Parliament as a “protest against austerity … the infringement of our rights … mass surveillance … war crimes … corrupt politicians.”
Another site advertising the march links to a scene from the film based on an Alan Moore graphic novel, 'V for Vendetta', in which a hooded figure wearing a Guy Fawkes mask calls for an uprising on the streets of London against the dystopian fascistic British government.
Where is the Million Mask March taking place and at what time?
Scotland Yard are seriously concerned that the the event could descend into chaos on Saturday night so they have announced a series of restrictions on the event limiting it to a three-hour period between 6pm and 9pm on a prescribed route between Trafalgar Square and Whitehall.
Static protest are limited to Trafalgar Square, Richmond Terrace and Parliament Square and the Met has warned anyone breaching the conditions could be arrested for public order offences.
Will there really be a million people?
Some 20,000 people have said they will attend the march on Facebook, according to the event’s page.
What happened last year?
Met police officers believe “peaceful protest is the last thing on the minds” of those who plan to attend this year.
Last year's march descended into chaos with missiles and fireworks thrown at police. Three officers and six police horses were injured and 50 people arrested and one photographer was knocked down by a ‘fleeing’ Aston Martin.
Chief Superintendent Pippa Mills said in a statement that the force had “serious concerns” about disorder at this year’s event.
“We will always facilitate peaceful protest and have a strong history of doing so. However we have strong reason to believe that peaceful protest is the last thing on the minds of many of the people who will come along this year.
“Criminality at the event has increased year-on-year. Last year hundreds of Londoners on their way home from work, or out enjoying an evening in the Capital, were harassed and intimidated by people causing them huge concern. Public property was damaged, businesses had windows smashed and police officers and horses came under attack.
“Those who choose to behave like this are not protestors, they are committing criminal acts.”
But the protest’s organisers appeared to be putting on a defiant front, posting on their Facebook page: "the police are not your friends".
Million Mask March 2016: What time and where is the annual protest taking place?
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