Around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday students were sent a text message from KU Alert System that read:
“KU Public Safety has taken two individuals into custody after disrupting classes wearing masks.”
Half an hour before this arrest pictures started surfacing of two people wearing Guy Fawkes masks and comments saying how there is never a day without crazy people on Wescoe Beach. These individuals were both walking around campus, and going into classrooms in Wescoe and Budig halls
These masks, known as Guy Fawkes masks, have a purpose. These masks represent Guy Fawkes, who on November 5th, 1605 (not a coincidence that this happened today) was found in the cellars of the House of Parliament with dozens of gun powder barrels. He and his fellow conspirators were tried as traitors for plotting against the government. He was later sentenced to death for his treason and the following year the tradition of Parliament to commission a sermon to commemorate the event that took place. This is why you can hear people say “Remember, Remember the fifth of November.” This is a warning to new generations about treason and how this treason will never be forgotten.
This is the reason why the movie V for Vendetta is attributed to this day of the year. This movie is based off a graphic novel, which is based off of the above history. In the movie the man known as V, wears a Guy Fawkes mask. This man seeks freedom from the fascist government for all people.
In a way these men on campus today think they are justified, even feeling the need to film their conversations with people using a GoPro. The lingering question about this fact though, is why film this experience? Why was it so important to film this experience and post it on mysterious, unknown website? When asked where the footage would be the guy simply said, “You shall see.” – I don’t know about you, but that was very eerie and gave me a chill
In my opinion, there appears to be that they base some of their ideals off of, V for Vendetta which conclusively shows to me that like V in the movie when he took control of the television to claim his authorship of his deed; these men want to take control of social media, and media in general to make their own stand in history and make their own claims on sexual assault and violence in a way that would promote a lot of attention.
They definitely fulfilled their goal of shaking up the individuals in this community today with their words and their silent actions. Onse student, Ashley Hocking stated that,
“The man in a Guy Fawkes mask on campus today is a nuisance. The only thing he was trying to achieve was mass hysteria among students and faculty. No one should ever feel unsafe on their own campus and that’s exactly how he made everyone feel. Rumors have circulated that he threatened to blow up the Kappa Sigma fraternity tonight and make the perpetrator from the sexual assault case pay. While I applaud the masked man for standing up for victims of sexual assault, reacting to an act of violence with threats of more violence was a poor choice.”
*photo credit: Ashley Hocking
And she couldn’t be more right. Why do people think it is okay to deal with violence with more violence? Yes, sexual assault is a tremendously serious problem that this campus is getting a handle on and trying to work out a plan to make this campus a safer place. That does not mean people like these men should lose their patience and take matters into their own hands.
This situation is also something to worry about towards the campus community’s safety. What if these men had more dangerous plans in mind? This brings about an even touchier subject, especially with all the surfacing violence going on in different parts of the country. No, these men did not physically hurt anyone, but whether their statements about Greek life were true, there was a threat placed to a certain group of our fellow KU students. To me, this unsettling event today struck a chord with people that will undoubtedly stick with all of us for a while.
“I was afraid to walk home today after my class since it was dark and because of what happened at Wescoe today. I remember seeing one of the men pass me on his way to Wescoe Beach.” – Megan B.
I do think we’re extremely lucky that the police came and that nothing worse happened today. All I know for sure is that this event showed how unsafe this campus can be even with the polices we have now. * photo credit: George Mullinix and the University Daily Kansan.