On Saturday, thousands gathered in front of the Capitol Building for the celebrity-endorsed Stop Watching Us rally. A protest against mass surveillance by the National Security Agency, the event was supported by organizations representing a broad political spectrum, including the Green Party, Your Anon News (a "news network that supports" the hacktavist collective Anonymous), and the Libertarian Party.
Tom Watson argued in a column for Salon earlier in the week that the inclusion of the latter, "a right-wing political party," undermined the rally's caused:
"Going 'all in' with the libertarian purists is a fatal and unnecessary compromise; reform is clearly needed, but the presence of anti-government laissez-faire wingers at the beating heart of the privacy movement will surely sour the very political actors that movement desperately needs to make actual — and not symbolic, link bait — progress in its fight."
Indeed, many of the rally attendees held libertarian views. In a highly unscientific poll, we asked 50 people attendees about their political affiliations, NSA spying, and the security of their email accounts. Here's how the responses broke down: