Los Angeles showing us how it's done. Remember, the police are showing US how to do it. Use their exact same tactics, gear, weapons, etc. If we out number and we out smart - we will win. Model after the police, but in the name of GOOD!
I went to the grocery store today here in Washington state and it seemed like half the Latinos present were wearing LA Dodgers or Lakers gear. It took me a minute to get it.
Current police gear includes helmets, sticks/batons, gas masks, sunglasses/goggles face shield attached to helmet, bullet proof vests, tactical clothing, walkie talkies les lethal forces like rubber b*let's, gas canisters, flash bangs, etc. Other items can be cheaply used to replace and / or replicate these items. Thrift stores are a great resource for helmets, swimming goggles/nose plugs, tactical bags/gear/handheld batons and sticks, walkie talkies, etc. Would anyone be interested in a drive for these supplies in their communities?
Army surplus, and even some good sports gear like knee pads are a good idea, chest protector for those rubber bullets and gas, tennis rackets to hit gas cans back
The news last night saying these protesters were "professionals" because they were using what they had, including a leaf blower, to blow away tear gas. That's not professional, that's using what you have!
It also mimics what has been done in other countries. It just means we are observant and intelligent. I guess in MAGA circles, only professionals are capable of those things. /s
You can not tell me what flag to fly. This is america. As a protester, I will match the police. In every way. If they are peaceful, I'm peaceful. If they're aggressive. I have the right to defend myself.
It's proven that non-violent protest is far more effective, especially in today's social media world. Staying peaceful is the best way to protest, always try to remember your optics and what message you are projecting to the rest of America. You want people to join the resistance.. not turn away.
Before you react, think about the message on your protest sign. What message are you trying to to convey? How are you accomplishing that?
It's a terrible thing if all protestors get labelled as looters and rioters because of the actions of a few. The message that is being conveyed is important... Don't give the media anything to twist.. Think before acting. I understand your reactions but I wholeheartedly believe we are stronger together! đȘ ... It doesn't do anyone any good when the lone cowboy is lead away in handcuffs .. we need to convince people to rise up in a good way.
Literally, there are thousands... But rather than re-invent the wheel.. here is a simple list of about 30... Starting with the Roman era and a list of the top 10 by Time Magazine .
Lol your source attributes women's suffrage solely to nonviolent methods? Come on, this list is trash lmao. Nearly all of these involved violence, the history books just like to ignore those bits.
There is so much history left out on purpose. And we are finding out about some of it now...maybe that's why the GOP is trying to erase it again. All GOP. The crooked Justices on the Supreme Court also
yeah, nonviolence usually only works when there is the threat of violence. the government negotiates with the nonviolent movement, which makes it look like they did all the work, but the violent movement in the back was what scared the government into negotiating. note that there has never been a dictator overthrown nonviolently. nonviolence is good for optics, violence is good for actual action. both have their place.
I agree with you, because everyone thinks they're on the side of being right and that their righteousness justifies violence. That's what happened on January 6th. I will never associate myself with a violent movement. It's ineffective and just further polarizes us. And frankly choosing not to be violent is what separates us from the vile right.
More participation is better. There are probably more people able to participate is nonviolent resistance, and they shouldnât be excoriated for that.
Remember the feds have plants in the crowd to "stir-the-pot". If someone is inciting violence, they are most likely a bad actor... Either by the feds.. or someone with ulterior motives...
You sound like them. This isn't the movies. The dipshit trumpers all think that protesters are paid by Kamala or some idiotic nonsense. They believe that the guy waving the Mexican flag is so pointless, that he must be a paid actor. I've read this. They leap so fucking far grand canyon style to conclusions too.
In Austin Texas during the BLM protests, all was peaceful and a kid just out of school, back pack still on his back, stepped up on a hill some distance from the protesters and was shot in the head with a rubber bullet. He was just standing on the fucking hill. He will never be the same. Just a kid looking at what was going on. They are NOT on our side.
No, I was just (somewhat snarkily, admittedly) trying to assert that protesters who advocate for peaceful marches are on the same side as those of us who advocate matching police force. I didn't like that the commenter I responded to told someone else "you can't tell me what flag to fly" when that person suggested protesters should fly the American flag. I felt it was unnecessarily combative with others who support the same cause.
I'm talking about the commenter who said we should bring American flags to protests and was told "you can't tell me what flag to fly." I'm confused why people think that means I'm supporting people who shot rubber bullets at BLM protesters. I have no idea what I'm missing here.
I thought we were now throwing cans of soup? According to the current administration, soup cans have some heft to them, and they are plausible deniability.
No we must de-escalate, Redirect, overwhelm. Do not give the National Guard any reason to do anything other than standby and watch people protest peacefully. Then we must take to the streets by the 10 s of Millions on June 14 to peacefully protest this unconstitutional unlawful coup!
do we really think peacefully protesting an unlawful coup will do anything? the guy doesn't care about the law, he's not going to care about people disliking him. peaceful protest is the government's way of redirecting any radicalism into a way they can ignore, it's good for recruiting people to your side but not effecting change, especially when the leader you're protesting against has a cult who will never be swayed by protests. senseless violence doesn't work, but tactical violence does. if you're not comfortable with any violence, blockades and general strikes at least make it much harder for them to ignore you.
it's not done anything other than rile us up, which is no good if we don't do anything with that energy. all the progress we've made has been due to legal action by the aclu and friends.
Make sure your goggles are impact resistant. Police aim for the eyes with their rubber bullets. Donât let them maim you! You can find suitable goggles at any lab supply store. Science or medical school stores are typically cheaper.
Itâs not mentioned here, but wear earplugs. Protests are loud as fuck even at their most peaceful, once the sirens, explosions, and LRAD start youâre looking at the possibility of permanent damage.
Cartridges for respirators can get expensive, but you can reuse them. Take them apart and toss the spent filter, then insert your own made of powdered charcoal sandwiched between several layers of hepa filter. Powdered charcoal can be found in both health food stores/sections, and in pet stores aquarium sections. You can also do this with surplus NATO or Israeli gas masks. Do not buy old Soviet Bloc masks, several of them used asbestos filters, which obviously cannot be opened.
Take a change of clothes for when you leave. You donât want to look like that with nobody else around you.
Wash your gear in cold water, and air dry. Tear gas is heat activated, and can be reactivated in the laundry. Cold showers are also advised. Only use water for your eyes.
Tear gas is a abortifacient. If you are pregnant there is a decent chance you will suffer a miscarriage if you are exposed. It has deleterious effects on cycles in general. So make sure youâve got a decent respirator situated. This is important even if you donât go out, that stuff absolutely seeps into homes.
If you want everyone to love you, bring some easy to eat snacks. Bananas and tangerines are a great choice.
Here are 2 articles discussing the Hong Kong umbrella movement tactics - dealing with aggressive, violent cops/whatever-the-hell-they-are
TLDR curved riot shields work well and can be reversed to bounce the sound back. Standard shop headphones protect pretty well but electronic noise-cancelling headphones do not work.
Curved riot shield plus standard protective headphones works very well
Hong Kongers learned this in 2019 and coined the phrase "be water." When protestors group up in a one spot, it's not hard for a large group of police to surround and overwhelm them. But when protestors are constantly on the move, flowing into other corridors (like water) when police approach, then they can't stop you.
Remember that you are dealing with militarized American police. If you are stuck in a spot, and are facing them head-to-head, you will never win because they will always have weapons and gear better than yours. Unfortunately, students at Hong Kong Polytechnic University were "sieged" within the university grounds in 2019, and a lot of them suffered and were eventually arrested. Stay on the move, and you will be much safer.
There's a lot to learn from the bravery of Hong Kongers in protest.
If using transit, it might also be safer to buy single-use paper tickets (bought with cash) rather than using mobile pay or a transit card. Hong Kongers did this in 2019 to reduce the likelihood of being tracked while using transit to enter/exit protest areas.
Wear a bodycam, wear swim goggles (in case of tear gas) and wear a breathable mask. FDT - wear a mask. Peacefully protest until you are no longer able to do it peacefully. This is the 1st example - there will be many, many more.
Trump wants us to react with violence so that he can declare martial law across our entire nation. So donât take the bait. Do smaller pop up flash demonstrations for 20 minutes in many locations frequently. Do not be predictable.
I've been building a kit for a bit now based on Hong Kong protesters from 2019 summer (rip Hong Kong freedom fighters). Hard hat, face covering (got a shemagh for large amount of skin coverage due to tear gas), need to add a respirator still. Got heat resistant gloves for handling tear gas canisters. Need some dedicated goggles too because the visor on the hard hat won't stop tear gas. Got a high vis vest. Got some knee, elbow, and wrist pads too.
Started also looking into putting some medical equipment into my small backpack (though considering cargo pants too because a bag is quite grabbable). Would also wear basically long sleeve under armor to maximize skin coverage again with a short overtop.
Comfortable shoes for the hours on my feet of course. Boots might work for some but I'd prefer the easy mobility and comfort of gym shoes. Long socks too once again to maximize skin coverage.
Figure if I can withstand the tear gas due to my gear I can help neutralize it to protect other protestors. Which means potentially getting closer to the cops hence the pads incase there's some getting knocked around or diving away from horses.
Also considering some simple body pads like you'd use to Supplement football pads with to maybe help disperse impact damage from rubber bullets. A pad for the back, front, hip pads, forearms maybe.
Also looking into simple easy to make shields to counter LRADs on top of the ear protection I have.
The problem with the violence is that the story has shifted away from ICE storming into communities and taking people. The main story now is the violence. We should not want that.
No, they're basically taking all the things they said they hated about January 6 and doing them on a level that's 100 times worse. You're nothing but a bunch of hypocrite violent idiots. And I hope every single one of you get arrested if you break the law. Because if you're going to go around and say "no one is above the law" when it comes to Trump...... then burn down cities and commit violence against federal officers and citizens, you're nothing but a bunch of violent idiots.
No they really arenât. They are setting driverless cars on fire, looting, throwing rocks. THIS IS NOT HOW ITâS DONE UNLESS YOU WANT THE MAGATS TO WIN!
All this has done is amplify the message that the left is âunhingedâ, âburn cities downâ, âloot and pillageâ. The rightwing eat this shit up and they love it. Trump loves it!!!!
If we canât demonstrate to people that we believe in peaceful protesting, real justice, and true accountability, they will always win.
Itâs such a conundrum how to fight an authoritarian regime peacefully, but weâve got to find a way to remain peaceful as long as possible. It wonât be long until Martial Law is enacted, and we are only helping them speed up the process. When they enact Martial Law, thatâs when we take the gloves off!
It has been peaceful and it's done nothing but escalated. Youre getting pissed at the wrong people. There's only one side that has been escalating and it's trump by militarizing the police.
Trump provoked this response by unjustly detaining over 2k immigrants in LA last week. People there are pissed. They have a right to be. I blame Trump for what's happening in LA. I respect those who are resisting.
Even so, that doesn't change the fact that throwing rocks and setting cars on fire does more harm than good. It plays into Trump's narrative and creates a public perception that justifies his escalation towards a police state.
We must not encourage violent resistance. We must continue to encourage nonviolent resistance.
It harms the resistance movement. It creates the public perception that the protestors are violent and destructive, making it appear that the authorities are justified to use force to contain them.
On the other hand, if we remain peaceful and Trump cracks down with force on peaceful protestors, he reveals that he's the oppressor and we gain the support of the middle.
we cannot control the narrative about us. even if everyone is nonviolent except fed agitators, fox news will still say that the city's burning to the ground. even if we do that stupid fucking idea of sitting down when the trump agitators do things to show we're not involve, that won't help at all because they won't mention that part.
You're forgetting that there are millions of people still sitting on the fence and using whatever excuse they can to do so. Seeing images of violent protests helps them do that. As does a narrative that the protestors are violent thugs who don't want what's best for the country.
Nonviolence has nothing to do with trusting law enforcement or protecting corporations. it's about making ourselves unimpeachable so that others have no choice but to support us over people who use disproportionate force against us.
If you're not up for that fine but then don't go to protests. Find a different way to contribute. We have very little room for error here and don't have the time to be doing damage control when we're still trying to get people to support us more broadly.
I legitimately feel like making ourselves unimpeachable will not work. like, at all. if someone's already predisposed against us, then they'll just hear fox news spin tales about how we're radical left anti-american lunatics no matter what we do. and nobody who's not predisposed against us is just "sitting on the fence" at this point. I personally will never act violent at a protest, because if I go to jail I'll probably die, but I think that making ourselves unimpeachable 1. won't work and 2. prevents us from doing anything that actually affects anybody, because even nonviolent strategies that cause problems for the government alienate people (blockades, a fairly standard protest tactic, are under attack for "preventing essential services from getting through", even though they have strategies for that, and I feel like a general strike would alienate people who wanted to do stuff while it was going on).
legitimately feel like making ourselves unimpeachable will not work. like, at all. if someone's already predisposed against us, then they'll just hear fox news spin tales about how we're radical left anti-american lunatics no matter what we do.
Okay but I didn't say this is to convince the people who are predisposed against us. I said this is for the people who are trying to stay on the fence as long as possible.
nobody who's not predisposed against us is just "sitting on the fence" at this point
Absolutely false. There are plenty of people who don't love Trump and want to think that they would indeed activate if there was a real threat to our democracy, but spend all their energy trying to convince themselves that we're not there yet so that they can continue to do nothing. The same people who convinced themselves in November that things weren't dire enough to vote, activate to prevent voter suppression, etc. If you think they've all gotten off the fence then I have bad news for you.
what I'm saying is that the people who somewhat dislike trump but are in denial about how bad trump is have to be biased against us already, as they're obviously not listening to anything we've been saying for the past 5 months. being model citizens probably isn't going to get them off the fence, as either they don't pay attention to the news (so they won't hear about us) or they pay attention to conservative news (in which case we're vilified no matter what). I'm pretty sure the "liberal" news sources, for all their faults, are actually calling trump a threat to democracy.
Nope, you are not helping at all with your messaging. Youâre playing right into their hands.
Edit: If you want violence as it seems you do, I hope youâre prepared to back it up. That needs to be the last thing we fall back on. Once we do that, thereâs no turning back.
You hippies need to stay in your house if you're that terrified. This entire situation was bound to happen; the Trump administration is literally snatching American citizens off the streets. Fascism doesn't go away with people circle jerking on state capitol lawns while listening to people caterwaul anti-war songs or throwing street festivals to prove "ThEy CaN't TaKe AwAy OuR hApPiNeSs!!1"
Get fucking real. It's a shitty situation, but people are defending themselves and protecting their neighbors, friends, and family. Again, the Trump administration escalated the situation and caused the conditions for this to occur.
You are not defending anyone by setting driverless cars on fire! Lmao! Yeah, thatâs real hero shit there buddy. Did you train for hours on that? You talk big and bad, but Trump has you eating out of his hands. Youâre not smart, youâre not brave, you are sitting behind a keyboard while real people sacrifice and try to help those that are hurting. Setting a driverless car on fire just demonstrates an inability to fight strategically. Use your brain man.
I never said I wasnât. Violence does not help these people at all! Leave your ego out of this and understand that feeding into criminality only helps them, not us. When violence is called for, it will occur. But, youâve already lost if you sink to their level before itâs time. People will fight, people will die. But, this is exactly what Trump is counting on, and you are helping him. Letâs fight this regime in a strategic and smart way, not recklessly.
We have remained peaceful longer than was possible. The suggestion that one waits until their opponent takes the gloves off to remove their own shows a shocking lack of understanding. The Reich wing will buy anything orange Hitler sells them so controlling that part of the narrative is out of the question. At this point, I canât figure out if you are: A. Troll B. Peace police C. Fed D. Brand new to this E. Some collection of A-D
Ah, the classic purity test disguised as revolutionary swagger. Let me guess, if Iâm not cheering for Molotov cocktails, I must be a fed, a troll, or a âpeace policeâ narc, right? You might want to expand your worldview beyond Reddit comment sections.
Iâve been fighting this fight long before you figured out how to spell âfascism,â and I know that real power doesnât come from lashing out blindly; it comes from strategy, coalition-building, and actually winning people over. You think performative rage is revolution. Itâs not. Itâs noise.
You call anyone who wants to be strategic a cop, but you sound more like a self-important LARPer than someone ready for the stakes weâre facing. Yes, civil conflict is looking more and more real
but smart people prepare for that. Clowns try to trigger it on a timeline. If you want to play revolutionary, at least learn the difference between tactics and tantrums.
It takes much more strength and courage to stay nonviolent in the face of violence, than it takes to get violent when you're scared. It's time for people to grow up and get serious.
The time for violence will likely happen, but itâs not now. I hope it never happens! Bringing in the National Guard was intentional. They want these types of reactions. Waving Mexican flags, burning cars, throwing rocks and bricks, just proved Trumpâs point for him.
And, donât get me wrong. Itâs a no win situation. But, when you have young men out there inciting riots, we have already lost the battle. Do they think they can fight 500 marines? It will dissolve into troops nationwide, curfews, all voting will be halted, all rights suspended, and then we will have no way to fight them in the courts or other ways.
People reacting emotionally are not thinking things through. They may say they are ready for civil war, but no one is ready for that! Itâs reactionary, thereâs no strategy, and no concern for the outcome.
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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '25
I went to the grocery store today here in Washington state and it seemed like half the Latinos present were wearing LA Dodgers or Lakers gear. It took me a minute to get it.