Ethiopia's Feyisa Lilesa crosses his arms above his head at the finish line of the Men's Marathon athletics event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. (Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)NAIROBI — When he crossed the Olympics marathon finish line, Feyisa Lilesa put his hands above his head in an "X." Lilesa was protesting the Ethiopian government's killing of hundreds of the country's Oromo people — an ethnic majority that has long complained about being marginalized by the country's government. For months, the Oromo have been using the same "X" gesture that Lilesa, 26, used at the finish line. As soon as Lilesa crossed the finish line, tweets and Facebook posts went up with pictures of their new folk hero.

Source: Washington Post August 21, 2016 18:27 UTC