Though Anonymous did not start the Occupy protests - it instead stemmed from a blog post in Adbusters magazine - the collective’s presence and hand in the movement’s evolution has been obvious and is without a doubt its biggest political campaign yet.
Inspired by the Arab Spring and Spain’s Democracia real YA platform, Adbusters’ called for all like-minded individuals unhappy with the current global political and economic system to march on Wall Street and mount an ongoing sit-in-protest.
“On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices,” read Adbusters’ initial blog post. Going on to demand the immediate “ending [of] the influence money has over our representatives [sic] in Washington.”
The post quickly captured the imagination of several groups, leading to the #occupywallstreet hashtag trending on Twitter. The movement gained significant mainstream attention outside of Adbusters’ native US base when the Anonymous collective took notice and publicly voiced its support.
Reiterating Adbusters’ post, Anonymous issued a video on its AnonOps website citing a series of undisclosed actions perpetrated by “corrupt” governments and corporations as its motivation for the sit-in.
“Anonymous will flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, put up peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices; we want freedom,” said the Anonymous video’s computerised voice.
Since Wall Street the movement has spread to numerous cities across the world, seeing citizens pitch tents in public squares and mount sit-in-protests against the world’s current political and economic systems. In all of the campaigns Anonymous has openly voiced its support for the movement, publicising its live video feeds and reporting any incidents of police violence against protesters.