Prepping for protests: don't be a cop

I am not advocating for anything other than keeping a focus on who your real enemies are, and maintaining a good security culture. By the way, wear a mask, don't bring your smartphone and go with a group of people that will check if everyone made it ok back home.

Any movement that hopes to achieve success needs a diversity of tactics. And the only way to include diversity is allowing space for tactics you might also not like. The moment people inside the same movement turn on each other, the movement collapses. Fast.

Think very carefully on the level of risk you're willing to take. Draw a line of what is acceptable to you and don't cross it. Someone you don't know is throwing bricks at a cop and is inviting you to join in? Don't do it.

But don't be a cop. By that I mean, don't force your own line on other people. You saw someone throw a brick at a cop? No you didn't. It was just the wind. Also, definitely don't film someone doing something illegal or that you don't agree with. Also, don't let paranoia about "bad people infiltrated" scare you. This is literally the strategy used in COINTELPRO to destroy radical movements. A level of trust keeps everyone safe, and assume stupidity before assuming malice.

Even if you're not against prisons as a whole, you still are helping the Trump government turn an opponent into a political prisoner. And either you believe this is a nazi coup, or you are ok with people being sent to concentration camps. You can't do both.