San Francisco’s Union Square was the meeting grounds for young Bay Area activists late last Friday night, as a small group of demonstrators took to the streets in efforts to denounce the rule of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.

“I just want to help and educate people in any way I can,” said Academy of Art student Anna Dujardin, 19. “I don’t know what Invisible Children’s purpose is in this per se, but for me, I just want people to wake up tomorrow morning and see the city covered and know that there are people out there who care about this cause.”

Although the young presence was felt throughout the city, the controversial Cover the Night campaign lacked the fervor and widespread participation the viral video spurred through social media outlets in early March.

Over 3,000 people in the Bay Area responded to the Facebook invite, while several participants expressed their desire to make a change by leaving comments on the event page.

Less than 100 activists joined forces to blanket the city with posters, stickers and sidewalk chalk to raise global awareness of the atrocities made by the Ugandan guerilla leader, who has lead a violent insurgency in central Africa for over 25 years.

Speculations regarding the low turnout at the event circulated throughout the nation, as many believe the decline in the movement’s followers was partly due to the infamous incident involving Kony 2012 spokesman Jason Russell, who was caught masturbating in public shortly after the release of the viral video.

Many expressed concern that the movement’s central goal was tainted by Russell’s illegal acts.

Still, young individuals who say they are “only concerned for the safety of the Ugandan children” showed their full support for the cause on Friday night.

Posters plastered on storefronts and street poles read “Make Him Visible” and “Stop At Nothing,” while groups of activists wrote “Down With Kony” on sidewalks up and down the city.

Distributing the several forms of campaign material throughout the eager crowd, movement leaders stressed the importance of complying with the law.

Invisible Children roadie, or volunteer, Alexandra Mikros said she was there in support of the movement, but to also ensure that participants were taking action legally and responsibly.

“We want to build a very positive climate around this, because if people are waking up on Saturday morning and deciding that Kony 2012 is vandalism we would be very disappointed,” said Mikros. “We’d like to see something that’s respectful all around.”

Although instructions were given to comply with the law, security guards and police cars patrolled the streets, following several of the Kony 2012 participants up and down the blocks of the city.

Officers yelled out to movement participants, “You can’t post that there” and, “Please refrain from using chalk on the sidewalks.”

“Is one poster really going to hurt anybody?” said activist Jonathan McRueger, 23, in response to the strong law enforcement presence. “What we’re doing is trying to make a difference, trying to help children who can’t speak out for themselves. Is that really a crime?”

Amanda Moore, Academy of Art student, believes it is her responsibility as a young adult to encourage others to participate in the movement worldwide.

“If we don’t, no one is going to care about these children,” said Moore. “I know we’re split up by different countries and currencies, but I would hope that as a people, as one world, that someone else would help me from across the [globe] and reach out to me.”

Moore and her fellow peers lined the many blocks of downtown San Francisco, pasting fliers on buildings, newspaper stands and trashcans, leaving no surface uncovered.

“I think this is a great way to stand up and fight peacefully,” said Dujardin. “These children need us.”

Spurring the political movement, Invisible Children’s 29-minute video raised global awareness of Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, a Christian militant group accused of abducting somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 Ugandan children to carry out its bidding.

Prior to the release of the video over several social networking sites, Invisible Children spoke to high schools and colleges across the nation to advocate for the end of Kony’s reign.

“A lot of people [who are getting involved] are really young and it’s because this movement is lead by young people,” said Alex Garcia, Invisible Children roadie. “We want youth to be involved because we are the ones who are going to lead the future.”