Arresting Guy Fawkes

So, some citizens in a democracy decide they are going to carry out a stunt in keeping with the anniversary of the day. They do nothing more than go outside, in a public place, wearing the mask of a long dead criminal. Seems the polite thing to do, if you don't agree with them, is to ignore them.

But no. Instead they are arrested and searched.

Seriously, since when did wearing a mask in public become a criminal offence? If it is an offence, then how come there weren't mass arrests at Halloween? Did the police seriously think that a group of bloggers wearing V For Vendetta masks were a threat to national security? Or was there some sort of confusion, and there were mistaken for a Catholic who was executed centuries ago?

Of course not. The reason why they were arrested is because they were carrying out a very obtuse protest. And as we all know, you can only really protest if you do so in a government approved way, and a long way away from politicians.

It is a sign of a healthy democracy when people can protest in any way they want as long as it does not threaten the well being of others; be it in an intense way, an obscure way or in a completely arbitrary way. What does it say about the health of our democracy when a group of ten people are stopped, searched and arrested for nothing more than wearing a fucking mask?

Simultaneously pathetic and worrying.