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I’m gonna make a thread for anyone who is knew to protesting because civil disobedience can turn violent and my partners about to have his first protest experience! It’s very exciting but your own safety is key !
1. First things first you need to be prepared for the weather if nothing else. I live in South Carolina where it can be 100+ in the summer you need to have clothes that are protective but light because you will overheat but you can’t risk exposing skin in case of tear gas.
If you ever played sports in highschool or skate! Consider knee pads but most importantly a helmet (sports, hard hat or other) an army surplus store is a great option but be careful of certain garments that might align you will police or militarized police
3. Masks are important because there’s a pandemic and also tear gas is the first to come out during a protest. Liquid soaked bandanas while better than nothing in a pinch will NOT BE ENOUGH! Real Gas masks are stoopid expensive so here are some options:
4. An ideal alternative would be a builders respirator but as masks are more difficult to obtain now the main thing you need for an effective mask is a filter in this case a soft material and activated charcoal https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Gas-Mask?amp=1 (example shown here)
5. You might have activated charcoal from the last time u got into those peel face masks or a lot of small air conditioner filters use a charcoal filter which may be easier to find in your local Home Depot etc. if all else fails you can stop the burning a couple ways:
6 In Minneapolis especially since it was colder used milk which is an option, another one would be to have a spray bottle of water mixed with baking soda or campden tablets. Also anyway you can protect your eyes is recommended and prevention is ideal.
7. Another reason to cover your face is that people will try to arrest you, especially with recording and live-streaming so popular at protests there are assholes that will zoom into and find out who you are and try to send it to the police ! Protect yourself and others you film
8. Anothe reason to protect your identity is that undercover/ plainclothes police often attend protests. Be careful of what you say to who but if you are detained or arrested you have rights, know them: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights/
It is good to have friends with you at a protest and you should always stay together and have back up meeting spots in case. Phones die, if things get bad signals could get shut off. If you’re filming or live-streaming have portable chargers (battery powered pref)u will need them
Ideally at a peaceful protest this is not even a need but if you are interested in how to make diy carbon body armor / other diy riot gear here’s a great wiki how https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Protective-Riot-Gear?amp=1 .
It’s a great idea to have your car in the area for extra supplies, a way to get him but be weary of keeping it to close to the action not only could it get destroyed but if for some reason extra police/ national guard are deployed they may seal off streets and parking lots
This is all I got for now feel free to share and add stuff and I will as well ! Stay safe! Happy protesting!
