 Protesters in Boston , Los Angeles , Pittsburgh , Toronto , Edinburgh , London , and other cities worldwide , wore Guy Fawkes masks modeled after the 2005 film V for Vendetta . ( Guy Fawkes was an English Catholic executed for a 1605 attempt to destroy the House of Lords . In V for Vendetta , a rebel against a near @-@ future fascist regime uses the mask in his public appearances and distributes many of its copies to the population to enable mass protests . The Boston Globe characterized usage of the Guy Fawkes masks as " an allusion to the British insurgent and a film depicting an <unk> movement " . Aaron <unk> of College Times wrote that the Guy Fawkes masks provided a " dramatic effect " to the protests , and Nick <unk> of The <unk> Weekly wrote : " During the February 10 protests , Anonymous was <unk> , Anonymous was peaceful , and Anonymous was effective . After seeing all of the pictures from the 10th with everyone in disguise , many sporting Guy Fawkes masks , I wanted to be a part of that . " Scott Stewart of University of Nebraska at Omaha 's The Gateway wrote : " Many participants sported Guy Fawkes masks to draw attention both to their identity as Anonymous and the Church of Scientology 's abuse of litigation and <unk> to suppress anti @-@ Scientology viewpoints . " 
