© Reuters / Jonathan ErnstDemonstrators carry signs at "Stop Watching Us: A Rally Against Mass Surveillance" march near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 26, 2013.
Stop Watching Us is a collective of 100 public advocacy groups, among them the American Civil Liberties Union, Freedom Works, as well as individuals like Chinese artist/activist Ai Weiwei and Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who worked with Edward Snowden to expose many of the NSA's surveillance procedures. The began at 11:30 am local time on October 26 - the 12th anniversary of the US Patriot Act.
© Reuters / Jonathan ErnstDemonstrators wearing cardboard surveillance camera hats carry a sign depicting U.S. President Barack Obama at the "Stop Watching Us: A Rally Against Mass Surveillance" march in Washington, October 26, 2013.
Here is Edward Snowden's full statement read out in front of the crowd at Washington DC:
In the last four months, we've learned a lot about our government. We've learned that the US Intelligence Community secretly built a system of pervasive surveillance.
Today, no telephone in America makes a call without leaving a record with the NSA. Today, no Internet transaction enters or leaves America without passing through the NSA's hands. Our representatives in Congress tell us this is not surveillance. They're wrong.
We've also learned this isn't about red or blue party lines. Neither is it about terrorism.
It is about power, control, and trust in government; about whether you have a voice in our democracy or decisions are made for you rather than with you. We're here to remind our government officials that they are public servants, not private investigators.
This is about the unconstitutional, unethical, and immoral actions of the modern-day surveillance state and how we all must work together to remind government to stop them. It's about our right to know, to associate freely, and to live in an open society.
We are witnessing an American moment in which ordinary people from high schools to high office stand up to oppose a dangerous trend in government.
We are told that what is unconstitutional is not illegal, but we will not be fooled. We have not forgotten that the Fourth Amendment in our Bill of Rights prohibits government not only from searching our personal effects without a warrant but from seizing them in the first place.
Holding to this principle, we declare that mass surveillance has no place in this country.
It is time for reform. Elections are coming and we're watching you.
Comment: "Elections are coming and we're watching you"? Seriously? Are we to believe that Snowden does now believe that voting new politicians into office will change the system?
A banner reading "Thank You Snowden" united th ousands of protesters at the Capitol in Washington DC:
© PCJF JusticeOnline/Twitter
© PCJF JusticeOnline/Twitter
Here's a group of people, in a mass public demonstration, for the purpose of attracting surveillance, holding up a banner which reads, "STOP MASS SURVEILLANCE."