Lots of protests scheduled for tomorrow, all across the country, in cities and towns of all sizes. Odds are that it's going to get stupid somewhere. I figured it would be a good idea to throw out some quick reminders.
Don't talk to police. Shut the fuck up.
With some exceptions:
- Always first: "Am I being detained or am I free to go?" This isn't some sovcit bullshit, this one is for real. Free to go? Ignore them and go about your business. Detained? Do the next ones.
- You must clearly and explicitly express your right to remain silent. "I am exercising my right to remain silent. I want to speak with a lawyer."
- "I do not consent to any search." If they are allowed to search you or your vehicle/bag/property, they don't need your permission. The only reason they would ask is if they don't have grounds to search you.
- Identify yourself if asked to. Full name and birthdate, that's it. Failing to do that will only make it harder on you.
Come prepared
This has a few different meanings.
- Bring water, first aid, and a trash bag. Large groups of people get thirsty, hurt, and can make a mess.
- Depending on your state, it may be illegal to bring weapons to a protest. Find out for yourself. I'm not saying you should bring weapons; that's for you to decide.
- It might be a good idea to be familiar with the area you're going to protest in, and bring a paper map, so you can have an exit (or other) plan. Don't get funnelled into a dead end, for example. If that means reconnoitering that area today, go do that.
- Be electronically safe. Make sure your phone/watch/whatever only unlocks with a password, not biometrics. Use airplane mode.
Avoid violence
- Come prepared for violence, but don't start it. As my dad always said, don't start fights, finish them.
- "Being peaceful" is not mutually exclusive with "being really fucking angry and loud". Be scary; they only understand fear.
- Shit is probably going to pop off somewhere. You will need to make a decision in the moment whether to get in the shit or make your escape. Neither choice is shameful. If it's your time to "live to fight another day," run.
There's certainly a whole lot more that could be said, but this is long enough. Good luck.
This is not sufficient to prevent state-level geotracking. Use a Faraday bag, or in a pinch, wrap it in an aluminum foil burrito.
Also power it down. Multiple inside sources have stated that this makes it more difficult to access if it is confiscated (hardware/software dependent)
https://blogs.dsu.edu/digforce/2023/08/23/bfu-and-afu-lock-states/
this blog entry gives a decent primer on the concepts of bfu (before first unlock) and afu (after first unlock), obviously from "the other side", but still.
in short: when in doubt, always fully power down your device, since this is the only way to re-encrypt your phone, making access to contacts, messages, sensitive files, etc. much more difficult.
And if you need to power down the phone without having to look at it, you should be able to hold the physical power button down for about ten seconds, either in your pocket or in your hand while running. Obviously test this ahead of time for your own peace of mind.
iPhones don’t shut off when you do that, but 5 rapid presses of the power button return it to the encrypted lock state, and require full password to unlock, exactly like full rebooting does. This is enabled by default iirc.
It also quickly vibrates a unique short pattern to let you know it worked so you can do it without looking at it.
If you want to fully shut it down, you can either long press the power and volume up, then drag the power off slider, or do the 5 press thing above and drag the slider.
I just tried the 5x power button press thing on my Android phone to see what would happen. It said something like "emergency call -- preparing to dial 911" and I'm like, "Shit! No! Cancel! Cancel!"
But super good to know, riiiiiight?
lol sorry about that, android is a total mixed bag on that sort of thing. All iOS devices should function as described tho :)