Chicago Day of Rage The Daily Caller/Eric Owens
Eric Owens
The Daily Caller
Thursday’s “National Day Of Rage” planned by the hacktivist group Anonymous against the Aug. 9 police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. failed to materialize in any remotely significant way.
Anonymous had called for a protest in 37 cities. A Facebook posting dated Thursday shows that organizers had also envisioned nationwide protests in the early evening in dozens of additional cities — everywhere from Helena, Mont. (pop. 29,134) to Perryville, Mo. (pop. 8,225)
The protests were a huge dud.
A smattering of dedicated protesters showed up in front of the White House, demanding the arrest of Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Brown. The rally was largely overshadowed by a separate demonstration by Code Pink about hula “hoops not bombs,”according to The Hill.
Downtown Tampa saw about 30 protesters. Maybe 20 people showed up in Denver. The scenes were about the same in Boston and Baltimore.
The edge of downtown Des Moines saw about 20 protesters hoisting signs and holding up their hands, reports The Des Moines Register.
“Is nobody else coming to #Oakland #DayOfRage besides the Oakland Police?” asked Twitter user Minister Flashes.
A Facebook user indicated that there were “15 strong in Spokane at the moment!”
Even in St. Louis, only about 12 miles from the suburb where Brown was shot, the “Day of Rage” fizzled. “I’m heading out of the park,” declared Twitter user Shay Horse.
In downtown Chicago, the Anonymous-planned event was slated to occur at 6 p.m. in front of the Richard J. Daley Center — by the “The Picasso,” a large untitled sculpture.
A couple dozen people showed up, chanting the now-famous mantra “hands up, don’t shoot.”
“It was real peaceful,” a Daley Center security officer told The Daily Caller. “It wasn’t anything major.”
Another security officer who witnessed the small rally agreed.
“It was unremarkable,” the second man told TheDC. “The last one was about 600 people.”
A few extra police officers showed up for the event.
“It was really nothing,” one of the cops told TheDC as he sat in an idling SUV. “It was all good.”
As a dusky twilight settled on the Second City, three people — perhaps in their twenties — arrived on Daley Center plaza. They had come from Dowagiac, Mich. They were late.
“I have my mask in my bag,” one of the three protest tourists, a woman named Constance, told TheDC.
She pulled out her Guy Fawkes mask and slipped it briefly over her face. She said she acquired the mask at a protest in Michigan concerning medical marijuana dispensaries about a year and a half ago. Someone was handing them out for free.
Constance said she, her cousin and a friend had made the two-hour drive to Chicago because they are critical of the judicial process.
“I don’t believe the prosecutor or the judge will convict,” she explained as she unwrapped a fresh pack of Newports. “I really wish it would go differently.”
As the bells of the First Methodist Church on Washington Street tolled the 8 o’clock hour, the plaza in front of the Daley Center was deserted except for a couple likely homeless guys sitting with their heads down on the scattered patio tables and four pigeons heating their feathers beside the eternal flame memorializing American soldiers who have died in battle.