Packing For A Protest

In this article, we'll discuss what you should bring if you're planning to attend a protest. You should get things prepared for a day or two before the protest date, so when the time arrives, you're packed up and ready to go, without forgetting anything. Use a backpack (ideally one with tactical webbing) to place your items in so everything is on your person, ready for use if the need arises.

Depending on the part of the protest you plan on being at, you may not need all of these things. The closer that you get to police lines however, the more important they will all be:

• Long sleeve shirt or jacket and full length pants. This is to help conceal identifiers such as tattoos, birthmarks, scars or anything else which might give police a way to identify you. Whatever you wear, make sure it's just plain, no wording on the clothing. All-black is generally preferred by many veteran protesters, so that is the ideal choice to blend in with everyone else.

• A mask. Many Anons prefer respirators or the common N95. Wearing a surgical or respirator mask will not only help conceal features, but also reduce your chance of catching whatever infections are circulating. Other Anons prefer military-style masks like gaiters, which have a loose fit that further obscure facial features (especially useful if you have a beard).

• Protective goggles. Protective goggles should be lightweight as you may be wearing them for hours if you stay on the frontlines. In the event police start spraying protesters, these will help with keeping things like pepper spray or tear gas out of your eyes. They'll also help conceal eye color and eyebrows, making it harder to identify you.

• Due to Stingrays, you want to avoid being dependent on cell phones if at all possible. Rather than a cell phone, you may want to consider using an old fashioned Two-Way or Amateur Radio for communications, and a Police Scanner for information gathering, as these types of devices are harder to track down to specific identities.

• A flashlight will be useful if you are going to a nighttime protest. Again, you really want to avoid cell phones. Not only will a tactical EDC light provide better lighting than your cell phone light, but it cannot be tracked by a Stingray.

• Water (NON carbonated), snacks, wet wipes, earplugs, first aid supplies (a travel first aid kit will have bandaids, alcohol wipes, gauze etc), cash and change for transit.

• If you have any severe allergies like to bee/wasp stings, you can bring an epipen. Also if you are Asthmatic, it's a good idea to bring an inhaler with you. This way if police use any tear gas or other respiratory irritants, you can cope with the repercussions. If you have enough backpack space, you can also bring a different shirt or other clothing items to change into as well as a plastic bag to prevent contamination.

• Use a marker to write an emergency contact's phone number on you. In case your phone is taken, or you end up in a predicament where you're unable to personally call, someone will be able to notify that contact. Sometimes protests will have a designated lawyer for the whole group, so find their number in advance if that is the case so you can get in on a cheap collective defense.

• Bring a paper map if you are unfamiliar with the city grid you will be protesting at. Not only will it help you stay off the grid (again, you want to avoid Stingrays!) but you also don't want to be stranded with a broken GPS app in case they cut the cell towers. If you have time beforehand, scout the area in advance to get a feel for the street layout.

You don't want to wear any jewelry or contact lenses. Jewelry can get snagged or pulled and result in injury or choking, so no necklaces or bracelets is best. Earrings should preferably just be studs or very small fitted hoops. If you HAVE any medical condition which you were medic alert jewelry for, aim for a bracelet over a necklace. You also really don't want to have any sharp objects on you that police can claim as a weapon, or any recreational drugs/medications that aren't absolutely needed.

This one is going to be hard for some of you to swallow, but leave the cell phone at home so you don't get stung by a Stingray. If you must bring a cell phone, be careful!!! In such cases, it's preferable to bring a burner phone, not only to roadblock identification, but to prevent damage to your main phone in the likely chance things get rowdy. Set your phone so that it's password enabled, but NOT fingerprint/facial recognition. You also need to make sure that you turn OFF all location apps. Put it on airplane mode, turn off your data, and make sure there's no apps on which can track/record your location (don't forget background apps with push notification services either). Also, be cautious about taking pictures that might reveal your specific location at a certain time. If you're arrested and your phone is confiscated for evidence, police can match your location with a certain timeframe and you don't want that.

Avoid bringing any identifying paperwork or cards (driver's license, school ID, credit/debit cards, etc) as they will be used against you if you get picked up by law enforcement. Remember that keeping your damn mouth shut is the best way to get out of such situations, so the less details that the police can pull out of your pocket, the better.

If you are with the press, be wary about bringing cameras. Not only will this make you a target by some law enforcement agencies, but protesters are known to sometimes turn on people with cameras as well. Bringing a giant DSLR rig to the frontlines is a great way to have a target painted on you by all sides. Streamers have a little bit more leeway than photographers, as nobody wants to be caught assaulting someone on a livestream. Otherwise, the more compact and concealable your camera, the better.