It is more important than ever to be visible for Palestine, for the environment and for the liberation of all peoples. And while we do this, we want continue keeping ourselves and our community as safe as possible. Use this resource as you exercise your right to protest the war economy with CODEPINK!
Before you take action:
1. Educate yourself on the local legal resources at your service before you take action!
2. Meet with your people and plan! Not only is it important to plan the talking points and goals of your action, but the safety measures you are taking to keep your folks safe! Consider planning for marshals, police liaisons and more. Marshal and Safety Resources from Center for Applied Nonviolent here! CODEPINK community safety training coming soon!
3. Think about categorizing your planned actions in Red / Yellow / Green actions! This allows folks to asses where they want to be throughout the entire action and where they feel safe!
4. For rallies, marches and actions, consider planning routes, bathroom and food accessibility, medics and any other needs of your contingent. We keep us safe AND healthy!
During the action:
1. If approached/confronted by a police officer or security guard, explain that your rights are protected by the US Constitution, and that you are not interfering with others' rights (freedom of movement, etc.). The goal is to end the law enforcement interaction as quickly as possible. If a cop is speaking to you on the street, ask: “Am I free to go?” If they say yes, you should leave, if you can do that safely. If the cop says anything other than yes, follow up with: “Am I being detained?” If they say anything other than yes, then say that you do not want to talk further and leave immediately (NLG Know Your Rights: Protestors)
2. You have the right to remain silent. If a police officer asks you any questions, you can respond with: “I am going to remain silent, and I want to speak to a lawyer.” (NLG Know Your Rights: Protestors)
3. You should not agree to be searched (even if you don’t think police will find anything illegal). Police are allowed to pat down the outside of your clothing whether or not you tell them you’re okay with it, but they need your permission or a search warrant to search beyond that. (A search warrant is a written 10 court order that allows the police to search for specific things in specific places.) (NLG Know Your Rights: Protestors)
If you do not directly say anything that tells cops you don’t want to be searched, a judge may say that your silence meant that you consented to the search. Remember to say, “I do not consent to this search.” (Consenting to something means you’re freely agreeing to it — using the word “consent” helps you avoid confusion with the cops by using standard legal language.) If you are arrested, you will be searched as a part of the arrest process. (NLG Know Your Rights: Protestors)
4. Wear pink! Pink is disarming! It also keeps us safe! Wearing pink keeps folks safe! Easy to tell who is in our contingent
5. Be aware of the influence your actions have on others and their actions on you. We do not want to surveil and police each other, but we do want to think about how our protesting and actions affect others' safety and wellbeing while in action! We keep us safe!
OTHER TIPS:
Especially in high-intensity actions, but in general, team up with one or more action buddies. It's safer and more fun. Show up and leave together - or make a plan if one of you needs to leave before the other. Make sure you have each other's cell phone numbers and that your own cellphone is charged and where you can easily access it (in a pocket rather than somewhere in a big backpack, for example).
Do not speak to the press unless appointed by our media team! Like our Media Relations Manager, Melissa, says, Although we are grateful that the press covers a lot of our actions, sometimes it can be unsafe/ineffective to talk to the press unless you have been trained to do so, so leave it to the comms folks!