'Hacktivist' group Anonymous marks Guy Fawkes Day in Center City

As darkness fell in Center City on Wednesday, about 20 young people in pale white masks and dark clothing milled around quietly as police gathered nearby.

The group was made up of members of the worldwide "hacktivist" group Anonymous. They had assembled at Eighth and Market Streets before marching to City Hall to protest corruption and other societal ills.

"Our goal is to hopefully instate a government that works by the people, for the people," said one protester who, like almost all his companions, wore a Guy Fawkes mask and declined to state his name.

Anonymous, a leaderless political organization, has staged protests from Peru to Hong Kong and London, all wearing the ghoulish and grinning Fawkes faces made famous by the 2006 movie V for Vendetta. Earlier Wednesday, the group demonstrated in Trenton.

Nov. 5 is Guy Fawkes Day, named after one of the conspirators in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to assassinate King James I. Fawkes has since become a modern symbol of political resistance.

"We're going to wait and see what happens," said Sgt. Derek Grant of the Civil Affairs Unit. A large contingent of officers gathered with bicycles, ready to follow the protesters. "As of right now, it's basically routine," he said before the group left for City Hall.

Speaking from behind a bandanna, one unmasked member said government corruption is the group's biggest concern - though, added another, all who take part have their own goals.

The first member named shootings, beatings, and police brutality as things they were protesting.

"We're from every walk of life," said one protester, who wore a sharp black suit and said he had come from his job at a financial company. He said he connected with the group through the Internet.

There is "no leader, we just have, like, thinkers," said another member.

The group has protested in Philadelphia before. Members said its goal is peace. They held signs with slogans such as, "Your Government Has Failed You."

"Peacefully. That's it. That's all we want," said the bandanna-clad man.

Many of the members appeared to be in their 20s. They gathered to snap group photos before marching to City Hall. Once there, it was more of the same. The protesters expressed themselves and then disbanded.

Grant called it "just peaceful."