Operation Copypasta - July 12th 2008
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Operation Copypasta - July 12th 2008
As you may know, Sydney Anonymous did not participate in the worldwide "Spy vs. Sci" themed protest for July. Instead, Operation: Anonville will be held on the 26th. However... that of course doesn't mean that a flashraid is out of the question is it? Hell NOES!
Enter: Operation: Copypasta, a massive propaganda sweep throughout various points in the city. After a lot of allocating and shuffling around, it was decided that different areas in Sydney would be hit simultaneously for maximum effect, and each serve as starting points. We all commenced at 11am.
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Bondi
Around 11am four anons started flyering at Bondi Junction around Oxford St Mall. Very good response from the public, including an Indigenous guy who knew all about L. Ron Hubbard's deceptive ways. Another guy was very opposed to Scientology's abuses but he had never heard of Anonymous. He was very happy to know we existed, even offering to help us out (somehow I forgot to mention Anonville, but I pointed him to asyd.org)
We then had a break for lunch and took some photos at Bondi Beach.
Bondi anons got a call asking us to go to Paddy's Market to meet up with others, we headed over and flyered outside the market for a while, but it appears we were meant to meet at Chinatown. (See below, sorry about the mixup guys, not sure what happened there.)
After another break for refreshments we proceeded onwards to Town Hall for a huge amount of flyering.
Newtown
Newtown report. Armband guy, Erisus and Red suit girl met at Newtown station at 11. Once there we masked up and armed our selves with nothing more than flyers and courage of steel. We raided Newtown at King street and appriached the objective on two fronts. Armband Guy and RSG took on side of the street and Erisus took the other. Flyers were handed out and cars honked at us every once in a while. We went up and down King street twice before rallying at the end of King Street and headed towards the University of Sydney. On the way we also gave out flyers.
Once there we entered campus and handed out flyers to a handful of people, however were soon approached by Campus security and were told to stop handing out our anti Scientology flyers due to complaints with the Cult of Scientology. We complied of course and simply stopped handing out flyers until we reached victoria park. We crossed to Broadway and walked up to Glebe Point Road. On the way a Scilon stuck in a traffic jam asked to be given a flyer,then asked for another then another by this time We knew she was a scilon, however she started a wave of cars asking for flyers and we happily gave them out to cars and pedestrians proving once more that Anonymous does not discriminate.
Unfortunately we noticed the scilon car turn towards the sea org. We immediately knew she was going to alert her scilon Hive of our presence. We quickly called Boombox Guy and informed him of the situation. The scilons knew we were raiding. So we walked up Glebe point Road and caught a Bus. In the bus we took off our masks and other Anonymous Affiliated clothing to avoid unwanted attention. We then proceeded to flyer the bus.
We got off at China town, where we found a small secluded place where we once again took up our masks and proceeded to flyer around Dixon Street and CHina Town. Unfortunately there were a few problems we encountered there. We were flyering at China town at the same as the Falun Dafa group with their anti communist China material. And at the same time we were told that the Bondi Battalion would rally with us at Chinatown. They did not. So with no blackup we proceeded to flyer up and down George Street and Flyering around the outskirts of CHinatown until it was 2:00 or 2:30ish where we stopped, de-masked and proceeded to freshen up with much needed lunch and drinks.
Around 2:45 we masked up again and proceeded to flyer our way to the proposed 3:00pm rallying point at Town hall. On the way we were greeted with car honks and a well receptive crowd. However upon approach to Townhall steps we were attacked physically by Rat Tail Kid and RSG was assulted by a tall individual wearing red shirt and grey shorts. However we dismissed them for being faggots and eventually met up with the main raiding force. - Erisus
PS Rat tail Kid is a pretty cool guy eh, assaults anonymous and doesn't afraid of anything. If engaging rat tail kid in conversation, record him at all times. Build as much evidence up against him as possible then when enough has accumulated, such as name, address, phonenumber, myspace page and several footages of him assulting other anons, archive it and hand it to the police.
Stats : we started with 600 flyers and finished with pretty much zero. While not over 9000 it was still a good figure.
Parramatta
Working on the success of Parramatta flyer drop of May 31st we a group of Anons hit the area again. We actually ended up with five Anons (two more than we expected) so it was a definite win already. We started off with 1,000 flyers, cranked up the Rick Roll and quickly went to flyering.
Starting off at the fountain point like last time, we got a very positive response from the public, especially the younger crowd. Some people recognised who we were, and they were surprised, but happy to see us. We even had a group of WYD pilgrims come up to us, curious at first, but when they found out what we were about, they were very supportive. Proof that you definitely don't have to be Anonymous to have some beef with Scientology! After a while, we decided to head over to the underpass near Parramatta station. Response was still good. There were many photos taken, many chats had, and much win of course.
However, all of a sudden, four policemen approached us and told us to GTFO. We politely asked why, admitting that we didn't have a permit for such a thing (as I understand, you don't need one, as it's public property). But we maintained our reputation for cooperating with the authorities at ALL times. According to one anon, there was a sign that said flyering in that area (near the underpass) was not allowed... right above our heads. Protip: Be a little more aware of your surroundings next time. We just happened to be really lucky. One of the cops took a flyer though! Fortunately, we were still able to continue flyering at the fountain.
Parramatta is always a good hotspot for people in no hurry. People are willing to listen, so like last time... big success. Sadly due to the fair distance to the city from Parramatta, our group had to leave a little early to catch up.
Penrith
Probably 75 - 100 flyers, then ran out, Penrith doesn't have any main streets which are choke points like Parramatta does but they were taking them like hot cakes, problem was we couldn't find anywhere to run off more photo copies, so we figured we'd call it a day and just repeat it sometime during the week or next weekend.
Side Quest: Taree
YellowPantsGuy unfortunately had planned a holiday to Taree before the date for Operation: Copypasta had been decided. Nevertheless, he wasn't going to let this stop him. While in Taree (way up there on the Mid North Coast!) he donned his Guy Fawkes mask and iconic (yet controversial) yellow trousers. He gathered two of his personal friends, gave them some spare masks, and headed in to the CBD of Taree at lunch time. Armed with only 40 fliers, the trio cleared the lot in no time and so headed down to a local printing business to get 100 more.
Within less than 60 minutes the following 100 fliers that were produced were gone. A great deal of interest was displayed with at least half of the passers-by taking a flyer. Several photos were taken as YPG danced to his own tunes, and even a group of a dozen pilgrims stopped to talk - God know what the pilgrims were doing there, but one young female in the group was somewhat fimiliar with Anonymous.
At the end of the 90 minute outing, 140 fliers had been distributed to the public of the Manning. Perhaps the chaps up there aren't at as much risk of being led into the church as some of these city-folk who live near the orgs, but Anonymous is not like Timmy - we don't discriminate and we'll give flyers to everyone.
Main Game - Town Hall
At 3pm sharp, we all met under the emo-steps at Town Hall and then proceeded to flyer out (we also got blackup from some more Anons). The boombox was unveiled, pirate song was cranked and we started flyer to a very receptive mid-afternoon crowd. Even the annoying emos were receptive and interested. They're still rubbish at dancing though. Nothing will ever change that. Photos were taken, chats were had, copypasta was distributed like crazy. Rattail kid appeared, but he was pwned by our sexiness and promptly pissed off. Eventually, a few straggling anons turned up to reveal that... 'lo and behold... ANON BLACK PR was back on the streets!
A few Anonymous went Sci-hunting. And we found the man handing out the fake flyers having a rather heated discussion with an angry member of the public. We don't know how many he handed out, but better late than never. We then proceeded to ask him why he was handing out false information about us, why he was lying, and if this is what he thought he'd be doing when he signed up for the church. Oh course he couldn't answer back effectively, as there is no good reason he was doing those things, aside from the fact that Scientology is an evil, lying, manipulative CULT CULT CULTITY CULT CULT!
He slowly retreated back to the org with Anons in tow. Between bouts of Rick Rolling, Anons were telling people not to take a flyer from him, as they were lies. Brave anons standing back a little bit were able to talk to the people who DID take the fake flyer and replace it with a proper one. The public were watching and lolling like crazy, thus ending up as yet ANOTHER footbullet. The public witnessed just how idiotic and sad the Cult of Scientology is, making them look even more crazy and stupid than before. After Anon arrived, he wasn't able to hand out any more flyers. Reports from the public have told me that these flyers, while they can be damaging, in fact make the Co$ sound even crazier. Eventually a Co$ Handler came along in his sharp scary suit and creepy sunglasses, ushering the Sci into the org like the coward that he was. We were perfectly willing to have a decent conversation with him, but nope. He chose not to participate. Further proof that a life in Scientology destroys your ability to have basic communication skills. Kitty then proceeded to dance in front of the org, and nothing of value was lost.
After that was all done, we got reports that there was ANOTHER Co$ goon handing out more fake flyers around Hoyts Cinema. We then rushed to Hoyts but there was nobody to be found. "No matter!" We thought. So we proceeded to hand out a motherload of flyers. It is a flyer drop GOLDMINE. I have never handed out flyers so quickly in my life. We weren't able to chat with many people as it was a fast-paced high traffic area, but damn, that place calls for some high-octane flyer distribution. Eventually we decided to all move back to Town Hall for some MOAR epic flyering.
Shortly after we arrived back though, we were approached by the cops. They informed us that the Co$ had called them and that they had witnesses describing that we surrounding him and looked threatening. We assured the policewoman that we never meant to come accross as threatening, and that we were sorry if we caused any trouble. We told our point of view and the story behind the false flyers. She understood begrudgingly but reminded us that people CAN get arrested for that, and that she was angry at us, but moreso the Co$ for wasting their time. In future, if you are to follow a black PR distributor, keep it to 3 anons, MAX. In hindsight, a dozen of us, WHILE making a good scene, might come across as looking bad for us. Again, we got lucky. Remember to keep your cool.
Eventually we flyered around QVB, which would've looked pretty cool from afar. We eventually decided to call it a day at 5pm and packed up. In total, we handed out over 2000 flyers. A rather commendable effort from anyone's point of view.
Final Verdict
Wins
- Delicious Copypasta - The previous Anonymous Sydney record for flyers handed out on a non-large-scale-protest day was just over 1000. We DOUBLED that today.
- Organisation - While the planning phase was a bit of a shamble, today proved that with a bit of coordination, we can get some seriously effective activism going. The fact that we were able to coordinate ourselves in multiple different locations and all meet later on for an even BIGGER raid proves that we can indeed be organised if we put the effort in.
- Response - Public reaction has never been so positive on a flashraid. If people are laughing and taking photos, they will definitely take a flyer. GUARANTEED. It's great to also hear people yell "Go Anonymous!" and honking their horns in support, even if we don't have any signs.
Fails
- Behaviour - The police politely gave us a talking to today after we chased a scilon handing out fake flyers. No matter what we think of them handing out the flyers, surrounding them especially in the masks is considered intimidation and harrassment. DO NOT CHASE THEM AND SCREAM AT THEM. Best strategy is to follow a few metres back and talk to the people who took flyers about who gave them out etc. The police are getting their time wasted by the scilons complaining, so let's not give the scilons legitimate reasons to do so, eh? That way if they're called out for nothing it's the scilons' fault, not ours. - RSG
- Black PR - They're still trying this. It's still serious. Above that though, it's illegal. As lulzy as it is to follow a Co$ goon around and make them look like an idiot, there are more effective ways to deal with the issue.
- Anti-Flyering Location - The fact that we overlooked that sign... ugh... 'nuf said.
Overall
HUGE SUCCESS! Thanks to ALL of the Anons who attended. You are heroes and some TRULY hardcore Internet bosses. Over 2,000 souls saved! Over 2,000 potential sources of income for the Co$ cut off!
It feels good to spread the cancer chemo.
PIX LOL
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