Good morning, let’s get started with some quick reminders about how to be #RiotSafe while we change the world.
1/25

1) Masks On – we are still fighting COVID and there are cameras. Put your mask on for safety. 2/25 #RiotSafe

2) No Identifying Clothing – wear plain clothes with no workplace logos, names, or school names on them so hostile groups cannot track you.
3/25 #RiotSafe

3) No Pictures Of Faces – unless someone is being suspicious, no pics of protestors’ faces. No pics without consent.
4/25 #RiotSafe

The idea here is making it difficult for hostile groups to track down individual protestors after the marches.
5/25 #RiotSafe

4) Daytime protests tend to be safer, but we know cops will teargas, pepper spray, and shoot everyone including children.
Plan for the worst.
6/25 #RiotSafe

5) Come Prepared – A change of clothes in a plastic bag in your backpack, water, milk for pepper spray. Good walking shoes.
7/25 #RiotSafe

6) Have An Exit – If you go with friends or alone make sure you have a clear plan for getting home safe. Park away from the march.
This is extra important if you have a wheelchair or other mobility aid. Planning ahead keeps you safe.
8/25 #RiotSafe

7) Learn From Others – Check out the Hong Kong Riots and the Arab Spring for ideas on countermeasures to police violence.
Even if you are going to a peaceful protest, plan for the police to react violently.
9/25 #RiotSafe

Orange traffic cones, hard hats, and umbrellas… they really come in handy when the police get violent.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/hong-kong-tear-gas-water-bottle.html

10/25 #RiotSafe

8) Not Everyone Marches – Police violence is an intersectional crime and not every victim of police brutality can march. Keep your rhetoric and speeches disability-friendly.

11/25 #RiotSafe

9) Other Supports – If you can’t safely go to a protest there are other ways to help. Here’s a short list…

- http://5Call.org  – call for reform

12/25 #RiotSafe

- Support grassroots organizations and bail funds in your area

- Be the driver to and from the march

- Be someone’s safety call so people can report in that they are okay

13/25 #RiotSafe

- Write, sing, speak, shout… whatever your sphere of influence allows make sure the people around you know that you do not support the police shooting anyone

14/25 #Riotsafe

10)White Specific Advice – If you are white and physically capable of taking the beating, you need to be between the police and everyone else.

15/25 #RiotSafe

If you are white, it’s your job to show up in support, but not to lead. Boost BIPOC voices.

Let BIPOC leaders lead.

16/25
#RiotSafe

If this sounds scary and strange I invite you to look up the history of policing and realize every Good Cop story you heard was probably a lie.

17/25 #RiotSafe

The American police system has been used to chase runaway slaves, drag abused women back to their husbands, break unions, and murder citizens. It’s not good.

18/25 #RiotSafe

Only 61% of murders in the USA are solved, and that’s the polices’ best crime-solving stat.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/194213/crime-clearance-rate-by-type-in-the-us/

19/25 #RiotSafe

Theft, burglary, vehicle theft? Over 80% of all those crimes go unsolved.

20/25 #RiotSafe

There is a Police Shooting Database if you feel unconvinced. So far there have been three days in 2021 with no police shootings.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/

21/25 #RiotSafe

The police are not legally obligated to stop and help anyone. They are not responsible for protecting anyone. They are strictly there to enforce laws on a whim and with extreme brutality.

This thread covers most of it:
https://twitter.com/designmom/status/1270038204754919424

22/25 #RiotSafe

It’s important to know that marching and protesting alone won’t change the system. We’ve been marching and protesting for decades. My youngest child has never known a summer without marches and riots against police brutality.

23/25 #RiotSafe

We need to protest to make people pay attention. But we also need law-makers and social leaders to step in and demand change too. Marching is a way to gain attention to the cause. Voting (or running for office) is how you help make change.

24/25 #RiotSafe

Remember to register to vote and vote in local elections. Make your @5Calls daily. Stand up to white supremacists and fascists wherever you are. Support and lift good people where you find them.

25/25 #RiotSafe