Anonymous Protests Outside Scientology Sites

The protesters gathered at Blackfriars at 11am. Music was played - the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air theme song was a favourite, as was Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. Chants included "church" (pointing at the actual proper church next to the "Church" on Queen Victoria St), "cult" (pointing at the CoS), "Knowledge is free, Scientology's not", "Why are they dead?", "[L.] Ron [Hubbard] is gone but the cult lives on", "Happy birthday Lisa McPherson" and of course "Hail Xenu". People played banjos and little guitars and sang and clapped and shared biscuits and jelly beans, as the occasional curtain inside the fortress-like "Church" twitched.

so i herd u liek mudkipz

The police were repeatedly thanked by Anons, and they seemed friendly enough - polite, but distant. Protesters happily followed police instructions given from horseback and kept the thoroughfare free. The City, notoriously dead on the weekend, didn't supply many passers-by to witness the spectacle, but those who did chance across the scene were handed leaflets. Drivers honked horns and were cheered enthusiastically.

The costumes ranged from a lo-fi scarf across the face to full-on - well, just look at the photos. A passing knowledge of internet culture was an aide to comprehension (have a look at Encyclopedia Dramatica, NWS, if you want to learn more) of chants such as "Do not want", "Mudkips", and the like.

After two hours, there was a break for lunch - one cannot troll IRL on an empty stomach, much as one cannot simply take the Tube to Morden Mordor - before reconvening at 2pm at Goodge St. Seeing masked-up Anonymous on the Tube was hysterically surreal - and many more people were educated en route about what it all meant.

At Goodge St, we stood in a taped-off enclosure directly opposite the Dianetics and Scientology centre, waved signs and did our best not to impede the flow of foot-traffic. Many more passers-by were talked to, with reactions ranging from the disinterested to the puzzled to the indignant - against the CoS, that is. Protesters stayed around until 6pm or thereabouts; that's a long time to be out in the sun (and thank Xenu it was a fine, sunny, crisp day; we're not sure how the banners and placards would have held up to a good sustained cloudburst).

Image courtesy of Tanya_N

While the nerd quotient was, unsurprisingly high - like, duh - there was a good mix of 'normals' without neckbeards present and even some women (OMG GURL ON THE INTERNET), shock horror. In all, it was a grand day out and hella fun; the fact that it was all for a good cause is just the icing on the delicious, delicious cake OM NOM NOM we must eat it. What the lasting effects will be, well who can say? More events are planned, in London and worldwide; we'll keep you updated.

In conclusion: Anonymous delivers, as the people leading the conga line declared.

Careful now... courtesy of Simon-K's Flickrstream