You Should Know

That’s dark, hilarious, and horrifying.

Leopold II, King of the Belgians, wants to know your location

Correct & I expected the comment.

Bring a burner phone. You'll want a camera.

I wasn't sure about adding my advice on this because I live in a different country, so I can't say for sure what the best advice is where you are. I've never had a bad experience at a protest, but there's always the possibility, so I like to be prepared.

Personally, I bring my secondary phone. It's locked with a password - not face ID or a fingerprint, so that the arsenuggets can't "accidentally" unlock my phone. And I put it in airplane mode. At least in my country, they use Bluetooth beacons to scan the crowd, so make sure that's turned off too (airplane mode doesn't always turn that off). A burner phone would also work if you buy it on the way to the protest and trash it on your way home. Don't take it home.

Fake Black Panther

Ideally you need more than one armed person, or else you become a target. Sp organise with some friends before hand.

Yes. You should definitely take that with you. I’m sure nothing about the situation you’re about to put yourself in could go sideways. Definitely do it. You’re so wise. Do it.

that caught me off guard aswell

However, live streaming your footage is the best way to get the truth shown to the world

Just bring a burner phone with a camera. It needs to be filmed and streamed so they can't take evidence.

Honestly, at this point in the fight, if they track you that's the least of our concerns. We need to shoot this whole thing down so they don't have the power DO anything with your tracking data.

Oddly, at the most recent no kings day rally, I saw zero meshtastic traffic. I was disappointed.

Test your faraday bag. And test all the radios. (can you see your phone inside the bag via Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular [on 3,4,5g], NFC?).

I have one bag several years old that is leaky and stopped working. Some kind of hard case is probably more reliable. Real science-grade faraday boxes of all sizes and forms are available, but they are $$$.

Know that there are a ton of alternatives to carrying a smartphone when you need to maintain comms, but they all have their own pros and cons and most come with a monetary cost and a learning curve, depending on the tech.

• +1 to meshtastic. This seems like the gold standard right now of accessibility and function
• Alternatively, you could get a Ham license (or not, because not wanting to be in a federal db is completely understandable).
• CB is still a thing. It does not have any privacy features, but it's accessible and basically unregulated if you're not being egregious
• Learn how to set up 2-way encrypted DMR. (Note that encryption on Ham bands is technically not legal, but pretty much impossible to enforce unless you're constantly using it from specific locations and end up being fox hunted.)
• Ham bands can be used in an emergency without a license.
• There is GMRS/FRS. FRS is your typical "walkie talkie" that you can just buy and start operating. GMRS is cross-functional on the same frequencies, but a more powerful signal, you can set up repeaters and it requires a license. You can just buy a gmrs radio and use it though and no one will notice or care that you're unlicensed unless they really look into it (since,again, the band is shared with unlicensed users)
• Satellites unlock a whole different array of possibilities depending on where you are. (And they are actually more accessible then it initially sounds)
• SSTV (images transmitted over radio. There are some fascinating and fun opportunities for steganography here)

Remember, listening/receiving basically any signal is almost always fine. I say "almost" because it does vary by country, but even so it's basically impossible to detect that signals are being received by you as long as you're doing so from a private and secure situation, physically.

HOWEVER, if you want to play with radio, and you plan to transmit anything AT ALL - please get to know the band plan and where/how you're allowed to play.

Always know your frequency and power level, be mindful of who might be listening in, know your equipment, limit your spurious emissions and stay WELL away from government/military and even commercial comms channels. At best you will annoy your neighbors, but at worst you will suffer the full weight of the FCC and others if you start causing problems. If you choose to bend the rules, I don't recommend it, but that's your prerogative. Be careful, know your impact and the risks of such activities and try not to attract attention.

Came in here to say, this is all fine and good, but we've been broadly asked a question in response to our demand:

"Or what?"

The left and progressives broadly need to start understanding power and where it comes from.

We need to use the amendment that the founders placed there to answer the question "Or what?" when it's asked by our government when it goes bad.

If we met force with force, the cowards in masks and swastikas would RUN home and hide in their basements and whinge on the internet how persecuted they are. They're not going to get in a gunfight with anyone, they're emotionally-empowered internet chuds and pasty nazi-loving 4-channers. Every single one of them.

I dream of a day when I see nine-hundred thousand people of color, pink-haired LGBTQ+ allies and families of all walks of life marching on DC while open-carrying and demanding social change and accountability for the people selling off our rights to the lowest bidder.