Protest Etiquette
Here is the narrative:
The history of this country is rife with tales of objection to injustice, some institutional in the form of laws, some peaceful, in the forms of speech and citizen marches, some violent, such as the Boston Tea Party. It is written into the fabric of the culture, but consider this . . .
Injustice must exist in order for good citizens to rale against it. We cannot object to a thing that does not exist. Injustice exists. It, too, is sewn into the fabric of our culture and society. If it didn’t exist, neither would the protests.
We find ourselves in, yet another, time of objection to injustice and, yet another, turning point in our nation, but do not think that this is new. It is not.
In every attempt of good people to make positive change, there are others who work to see these efforts fail, we call them “agent provocateurs” and they are working to diminish the work of change.
Their goal is to persuade audiences to look away from the injustice, which is fairly easy to do, because remember, injustice is “baked into the cake” of the nation. Many people are predisposed to believe institutional sources such as police and media who present information in ways that narrow the scope and vision. This produces a narrative, but it doesn’t present all of the facts.
This means that as we protest for change, we must keep our individual selves protected, as well as our fellow citizens fighting for justice. In order to do this, we must plan.
CREATE A COMMUNICATION PLAN
Before attending a peaceful protest inform at least 5 people that you trust, some of whom don’t attend.
Have their contact information at the top of your contact list in your phone and in written form on your person.
Have an offsite plan for emergencies, if you have not been heard from by [X time], coordinate with someone offsite.
BE AWARE
• Attend protests with people that you trust.
• Once at a protest, get to know the crowd & the people in it. We're in this together.
• Create a buddy system between you to keep track of one another.
• Remain together. This minimizes the likelihood that police will target you for arrest and/or violence.
• Beware conscious of undercover police and collaborators whose goal is to incite individuals to violence and/or provide a target to police.
• Watch for “snitch jacketing.” This is when police collaborators identify someone as a snitch to separate them from the group.
• Have an offsite plan for emergencies, if you have not been heard from by [X time], coordinated with someone offsite.
TECHNOLOGY & REPORTING
• If you have a smartphone make sure that it is fully charged before you attend and perform some of these functions.
•. Turn off your location.
• Maximize your battery life by closing unnecessary apps that are running in the background
• If your phone must be unlocked for most functions, create a shortcut so that you can open your camera from the lock screen. This will allow you to open your camera to record faster.
• Upload any video as soon as it is safe to do so.
• If you are live streaming, arrange with the five people you trust, in advance, to download any video that you upload to their own computers and/or online storage.
• Record any encounters with police.
• If you witness acts of violence by police, record it and narrate it at a safe distance.
• If you have a “dumbphone,” prepare someone you trust ahead of time. If you are harassed or in a police interaction, you can call them and have listen to the encounter.
Record incidences of violence perpetrated by people who commit acts of violence, and as you do, narrate only the portion of the acts that you witnessed before you began recording and what you are currently witnessing. You must be careful to be safe as you are doing it.
Be a reliable witness and narrate only with the facts that you know and what you have seen.
PERSONAL SAFETY
Wear a mask, even after the incidence of COVID-19 is reduced.
The ACLU has positive instructions for encounters with police. You can find it here.
https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/stopped-by-police/
Tear Gas
If you are exposed to tear gas, follow these instructions.
https://www.businessinsider.com/tear-gas-2014-8
When you get home, put your clothes in a plastic bag for later decontamination. Shower with cold water, to avoid opening your pores.
If you check social media, you will find helpful hints, from other peaceful protest movements, that offer helpful strategies on dealing with tear gas and other contaminants that police employ during such protests.
Wear ear plugs, in case the police use noise cannons.
If you want to have some sort of idea about the type of equipment the police department has, check out the Mapping Police Militarization Project’s site and look up your county.
https://mpm-project.org/1033-program-usage-by-county/
Pepper Spray & Mace
• Wash the exposed area with soap and water to remove all oils and dirt, which might entrap the irritant.
• Flush the exposed area profusely with cold water three to five minutes.
• Keep the washed areas exposed to fresh air to allow the irritant to evaporate.
• Do not apply oil or grease medications. They could further trap the irritants.
• Do not bandage the exposed areas.
• Keep the area exposed to fresh air.
• An ABC News staffer suggested also sucking on half a lemon to relieve the effects of inhaled pepper spray.
https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2011/11/21/what-to-do-if-you-come-in-contact-with-pepper-spray
ARREST & JAIL
Few people attend peaceful protests to engage in, or be close to, violence. Most people don’t attend in order to be arrested and jailed. However, if you do protest, you should plan for the possibility. Before you go, have a plan for raising bail, engaging a lawyer, time off from work, and witnesses to broadcast the incident.
https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights/#im-attending-a-protest
Don't go to jail without training, if you can avoid it. Here is some information from The Center for Constitutional Rights.
https://ccrjustice.org/files/Legal%20Briefing%20for%20CD%20NSM.pdf
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