More than 400 people gathered in Maryville, Mo., Tuesday to show their support for Daisy Coleman and Paige Parkhurst, teen girls who say they were raped last year by two high school boys.
Parkhurst's attacker was tried and sentenced in juvenile court. However, charges were dropped against the boy accused of raping Coleman, then-17-year-old Matthew Barnett, who allegedly dumped the 14-year-old Coleman, nearly unconscious, on her front lawn in the middle of the night in below-freezing temperatures after the assault.
The case drew national attention -- and outrage -- after the Kansas City Star published a new report on the case earlier this month, and days later, Prosecutor Robert Rice announced that a special prosecutor would be appointed to review the case.
Tuesday's "Justice4Daisy" rally, organized by women's rights activist Courtney Cole in collaboration with hacktivist group Anonymous, was originally envisioned as "a peaceful protest outside the [Maryville] courthouse," Cole told HuffPost in an email.
"We were going to wear duct tape over our mouths to signify that the victims in this case have no voice and also have daisies in our hands. When the prosecutor did the right thing in turning it over to the court for a special appointment, there was no need for a protest and so I changed it to a rally for justice. This was to bring awareness overall to the fact that we live in a rape culture society and we need to work to find solutions to this problem."
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to one of the speakers as "Melinda Fletcher." Her name is Miranda Fletcher. Additionally, quote #3 was incorrectly attributed to Claire Major, when it was spoken by Miranda Fletcher.