News Brief

Written by Rebecca Gomez.

Photos by Alex Chi.

After tagging the The University of Texas at Dallas’s Spirit Rocks with cryptic messages, masked students assembled in downtown Dallas early Saturday morning for a pro-WikiLeaks protest.

Protesters accused the United States federal government of opposing free speech due to the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and for the Department of Justice’s court order for Twitter to surrender all private user data related to WikiLeaks.

Initially they gathered in front of the U.S. District Court at 1100 Commerce street but police officers instructed them to move away from the building and into the alleyway next to it.

The protesters briefly relocated to the alley then marched up Commerce while aiming their signs at passing traffic.

The short link on this rock went to a forum web site for up-to-the minute information and meet-up details for students and anyone interested in supporting the protest.

The demonstration was a part of a larger international effort to coordinate a world-wide protest at 11 a.m. CST.