I'm not really expecting people to get knocked down or kettled or rushed by the cops without warning. At big events like this normally (in NYC) the PD will do crowd control until the middle aged people with strollers leave only then will they go after the kids.

If this has changed and they try to force the event to end early it's a bad sign. It's also one of the reasons we keep doing these events: to check that you still can.

Don't let any scruffy kid make you feel like you aren't doing something important if you are part of the big group who is just showing up to verify that this is still a country where the most mild of protests are tolerated.

"rights" are often "use it or loose it" things. The right to "petition the government for redress of grievances" may or may not still exist. If you decide it's too scary to check then it is already gone.

It can be disappointing to go to a protest then look at the news coverage after. The coverage often fails to capture the joy, anger and enthusiasm of those who show up. It often fails to capture the size of the events and will focus on any "violence" that manages to happen, a broken window, or footage of the police attacking the people who are last to leave two hours after the main protest is over.

Don't let this bother you.
A very big protest WILL be noticed in ways that count.

One of the nice things about the modern media landscape is you can simply make your own "news coverage" of your local protest. It's polite to not feature people's faces in the photos and videos you use.

If you are in an area where you can safely operate a quad-copeter, or if you can get up on a roof getting big crowd shots to show the size is helpful.

I always enjoy short interviews where people talk about why they decided to show up or explain their homemade signs.

There are already people working to generate fake AI clips of the protests to circulate on right wing social media.

That's also very frustrating, but a flood of real images and experiences coming from all participants will make this kind of nonsense more obvious.

When taking photos go for shots of the back of people, or just their signs. I've often struggled to find photos I could use and regret not thinking about privacy more when taking my photos.

I do think you get some extra impact from a protest when people talk about how they went on social media. It makes it feel like "everyone is going" and normalizes the whole event even more.

That's the kind of event this is trying to be. Simply massive and "what everyone is doing."

That's part of the message. This isn't a tiny group of radicals. It's everyone, your brother, your aunt, her little dog too.

(dog photos are great and do well, people sometimes put a sign on the dog: very amusing)

Find a way to let your more right-leaning relatives know that you went.

It will change the way they see the news coverage since they will need to try to place you... who they might not totally like, but who they do at least understand to be a human person to some degree, as a part of that story.

"How extreme could it be if Ralph was there?"

Also if you aren't in a big city and going to a smaller event I have less advice from experience. But I think the "smaller" protests in less expected places are very important. Try to find a way to let everyone know about your massive event with two dozen people in a small town. That's part of "everyone is doing it" too.

Two dozen people with 8 signs and a dog is TERRIFYING if we are talking about a small town with a population of 10 or 20K people.

It's basically the Bastille being stormed in terms of political implications.

@futurebird we had 2000 people in our town last time. The town population is 4911. This one should be bigger.

No Kings, Just Good Boys

Moonshine was by far the most popular protester at the Berryville No Kings rally. At least 1000 people showed up..a very impressive number in this speck of a town. And people were pissed. But they were civil. WE WILL HAVE NO KING IN THE UNITED STATES. Moonshine says so. Moonshine, who weighs in at 110…

Apothecary Shed (apothecaryshed.com)

@futurebird
Yes. Our smaller event was fascinating. We're a Big University Town(s) in the middle of the prairie. Very Locally Blue.
Several thousand people there (a friend did an actual attempt at crowd estimation) and I saw maybe a dozen Black folks who were prob'ly connected to the U. They were more likely to be attired according to the "it might get ugly" directions. Yes, it was mostly privileged people there. GOOD!!!!! including signage about that.
We had at least a dozen inflatables; 3 dinosaurs and a pink pony and a chicken .... and a BUNCH of cow costumes. IT IS THE PRAIRIE
LOTS of hand made creative signs. (Hmmm. Does that mean -- I think it does -- that there were sign making parties? )
I wore a bright poncho from El Salvador that had been given to Padre Tomas on one of his many visits there (pastor at my church 'til they made him retire for being too ... much like Jesus... ) I got to tell a person or two about it/him and carrying their messages forward.
I chatted w/ a perosn who said this was their first protest here; they had gone to theones in Chicago. "How do they compare?" Oh, they are so intense!!! The energy is amazing .... BUT they were really glad to be at this one AND to see they weren't alone --> LOTS of people were out here, all age ranges, etc.
A small percentage of folks were there in black, blending in. I simply didn't want to be my Famous Local Character self there.
Time to wind down