Anti-NSA protesters took to the streets in cities across the United States on Thursday , using the Independence Day holiday to call attention to recent disclosures about the U.S. government 's telephone and Internet surveillance programs . The movement , called `` Restore the Fourth , '' says the government programs such as Prism violate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution , which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures without warrants . Specifically , it wants the National Security Agency 's surveillance programs shut down . `` It 's important that we speak up and let our elected officials know that our rights are being violated , '' said Kyle Smeallie , a protester in San Francisco . Online , popular websites such as Reddit showed support for the protesters by embedding Restore the Fourth images emblazoned with a hashtag . Study : Reddit used by 6 % of adult Internet users . The grassroots , nonpartisan movement started a month ago when a group of people met on Reddit and decided to take action . `` It is something a lot of people care about . We 're trying to get that narrative out there , '' said Sam Oslos , 23 , one of the protest organizers . In the month following Edward Snowden 's leaks about U.S. government programs collecting information from phone and Internet companies , some U.S. citizens seemed unsurprised and resigned to being monitored . According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center last month , 56 % of Americans think the collection of telephone metadata is acceptable . The loosely coordinated activist group helped organize protests in more than 80 U.S. cities using online message boards and Twitter . There were demonstrations in New York City , Seattle , San Francisco , Denver , Chicago and Los Angeles . In Utah , protesters gathered near the new $ 1.5 billion NSA data center , which is scheduled to open later this year . The movement even spread overseas , where protesters showed up in front of the U.S. Consulate in Munich , Germany , donning Edward Snowden masks . In San Francisco , protesters walked from City Hall to the Embarcadero with signs that read `` Legalize the U.S. Constitution '' and `` I refuse to sacrifice my liberty for security . '' Police estimated there were at least 250 people protesting , but said the group was growing larger throughout the day . `` The Fourth Amendment is there to protect us , but there comes a time when we have to step in and protect it , '' Parker Higgins , an activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation , said to the crowd . He later told CNN.com that getting people on the street was a way to let officials know that there are people who care about their privacy . Dawn Ligiter was at the San Francisco protests with her husband and two dogs . `` We 're expecting our first child and we want him to have the same rights under the constitution that we grew up with , '' she said . Opinion : U.S. intelligence community is out of control . NSA director : Data mining follows law , thwarts terror . How to hide your data from Internet snoops .
Protesters in cities across the United States call for an end to government surveillance programs . They are calling their movement ` ` Restore the Fourth '' They say Internet and phone surveillance violated the Fourth Amendment .