This Simple Guide Explains How to Protest Safely
Earlier this week New York City's Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) shared a brief infographic containing tips for protesting safely, both in terms of protection against the ongoing pandemic and potential legal repercussions.
Taking to Instagram yesterday, AOC advised protestors to wear face masks and goggles in addition to nondescript clothing that would hide any identifying markers like tattoos. She suggested taking heat-resistant gloves, to tie up long hair, and to write emergency contacts down.
She also warned protestors to leave anything you wouldn't want to be arrested with at home and stressed the importance of taking a buddy with you. If you take your cellphone with you, disable Face/Touch ID, turn-on airplane mode, and disable data (assumedly to eradicate any possibility of law enforcement making you unlock your phone against your will).
Take a look below.
AOC's helpful graphic arrived shortly after an impassioned speech on why calling for an end to unrest can be seen as hypocritical.
“If you’re out here calling for the end of unrest, then you better be calling for health care as a human right, you better be calling for accountability in our policing, you better be supporting community review boards, you better be supporting the end of housing discrimination…Because if you don’t call for those things and you’re asking for the end of unrest, all you’re asking for is the continuation of quiet oppression.”
She continued, “This is not to condone violence, this is not to condone any of that. But…we have to really ask ourselves the question as to why so many people were okay ignoring these problems until a window got broken. Why does it take that for people to pay attention?”
Watch below.