Protestor Zach Dee of Monmouth says the peaceful gathering is tied to the Million Mask March, an international protest that celebrates Guy Fawkes Day.
Guy Fawkes was a British political activist whose plot to blow up the House of Lords in Parliament was thwarted on November 5th, 1605.
The Galesburg protestors wore masks modeled after the bearded, mustachioed Brit made famous domestically by the film “V for Vendetta” while holding signs with phrases like “ideas could change the world.”
Knoxville protestor Kevin Surber tells WGIL the local bunch just wants let the world know peace is a worthwhile pursuit.
“It’s a good support group and they just want everybody to be welcome and everybody’s accepted in this group,” Surber says, “and we just to make it realized that the world is changing and we just want it for the better.”
He adds that he thinks the world is in a dark place right now.
“The way our world is turning right now, if you can’t see on the news and everything, it’s going pretty bad in my eyes and a lot of people’s eyes,” Surber says. “I wouldn’t stand up for something that I didn’t believe in. I just feel like it’s better for the change to happen.”
The protestors are loosely connected with the hacker group Anonymous.