High-Risk Protest Safety Guide

As the State escalates its efforts all over the country (and the world), protests can quickly become high-risk and dangerous situations without the proper preparation. This is a collection of essential guides, tips, and resources for anyone attending an action that can escalate. The goal is to provide the best practical information to allow you to participate while protecting yourself and your community.

If you're more interested in supporting high-risk protesters or other folks on the front-lines, check out our list of ways to help both in-person and remotely.

All information on this page is for educational purposes only. This is NOT legal advice - please seek the advice of a lawyer (Immigrants can find one here) for any questions.

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Introduction

• 📖 Please read this great primer "It is Fascism. Act like It." by Crimethinc to mentally prepare for the political era we are currently in. This flyer is available in English & Spanish for free download and distribution.
• ▶️ How to Protest: What to Know, Bring, & How to Stay Safe - A great 30-min video by Prince Shakur for visual learners with best practices on how to stay safe and be prepared at protests. Many tips that are in this video are written below in this guide.

If you are part of a group targeted by police violence, please take steps to minimize the likelihood that police and other repressive entities will be able to capture or identify you.

Those who are able-bodied and with the most structural privilege (white or white-passing folks) can more easily take the front-lines, where arrest or injury is more likely. Those from vulnerable groups may want to consider staying away from the front and supporting on the ground in other ways (communicating updates, street medics, tear gas extinguishing, transportation, distro, etc).

REMEMBER: Effective protesting isn’t chaos. It’s organized, strategic disruption that forces power to pay attention. The playbook for political leverage is simple and works: 💥 Collective Power, 💥 Targeted Disruption, and 💥 Relentless Pressure. The goal is to make everyday life unbearable, bleed the economy, and inconvenience people just enough to participate in your cause.

Getting Connected

• How to Form an Affinity Group
• Find a Local US Mutual Aid Network
• Where to Find Your Local Medic Collective - This is not comprehensive, but offers a good starting point.

How to Prepare

• What to Know Before Joining a Protest - Questions to consider before joining a protest provided by Street Civics. Make moves with purpose.
• Mask On Zone's Anti-Surveillance Protest Guide - A comprehensive guide on protesting while keeping your identity safe, includes tips on clothing, devices, transportation, and more.
• Staying Safe in the Streets - Great summary of basic safety tips.
• Basic Safety Tips from Across Front Lines:
  • Have Situational Awareness - Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act to come up with a plan of action to keep yourself and others safe.  
  • Have an Exit Strategy - Always be aware and keep an eye out for exits in case you need to leave a dangerous situation.
  • Keep Your Senses Open - Keep an eye and ear on the cops and other white supremacists to create a plan in real time in case there is violence.
  • Do Regular Check-Ins - Regularly check in with yourself and your buddy/team to support one another in the heat of the action.
  • Know De-Escalation/Emotional Regulation - De-escalate yourself and your people in order to stay safe and grounded. Think rationally and don't let the cops manipulate you into dangerous situations (like being kettled in a tunnel)
  • Practice COVID Safety - Practice social distancing, wear a mask, and sanitize your hands to keep your community safe. 
  • Track Proof and Evidence - Document everything! Film, photograph, or write down police/white supremacist actions, brutality, and injuries. Media Management TIP: back up all your files onto a physical drive.
  • Practice Community Care - Care for those around you, whether you know them or not. Care is an act of resistance.
• Protest Safety - An excellent safety and care guide for to help you prepare before, during, and after an action.
• The Disabled Protesters Guide - Tips and checklists for how to protest and communicate if you are more vulnerable or have limited physical access.
• COVID-19 Safety at Protests
• Jail Support Form - Fill this out form in advance of any event at which you might be arrested; leave it with your attorney or a support contact. Form provided by the Rosehip Collective.

Digital Safety & Security

Understand Security Culture & Risks

Police are always tracking civilians. Learn how to effectively keep yourself and your comrades safe.

• What Is Security Culture? - Learn about the underlying culture required to keep movements safe. NOTE: these are general guidelines, please adjust to your own situation.
• Inside the FBI Entrapment Strategy - Power preys on inexperience. In effort to gain public approval for their actions, they work closely with mainstream media to paint protesters as violent criminals and domestic terrorists. Learn how to avoid entrapment and keep our movements safe.
• When the Police Knock on Your Door - Your rights and options: a legal guide
• If the FBI Approaches You to Become an Informant - Answers to common questions about what to do in this situation. Whatever you do, NEVER SNITCH on your comrades!
• ▶️ How Governments Spy on Protesters–And How to Avoid It - A great 20-min video run down by WIRED.

How to Stay Anonymous

• Your Phone Is a Cop - An important basic primer on operational and information security for the present moment.
• Common Threats To Privacy (and what to do) - A comprehensive primer from Privacy Guide of common threats to your privacy and how to combat them.
• Communications Equipment Recommendations for Rebels
• Backup Communication Networks - What to use when local communication towers get jammed or blocked. Coordinate the use of these tools with your local groups. Each of these still have their own vulnerabilities, plan accordingly.
  • Briar—An encrypted IM that connects to other clients using the Tor network, making it an effective tool at circumventing censorship. It can also connect via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth when in local proximity. Briar’s local mesh mode can be useful when internet availability is a problem.
  • Meshtastic—A newer option that uses peer-to-peer/mesh radio that is much more reliable than using either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, but requires purchasing dedicated hardware that you connect to your phone.
• Burner Phone Best Practices - Burner (ie. disposable) and dumb-phones are very useful tools when used correctly. Check out this primer by Crimethinc to learn how.
  • Dumb Phone Finder
• The Protesters Smartphone Security Guide - If you must take your device, read this guide on how to prepare and secure your digital footprint. Keep in mind, low-risk participation is widely recommended.
  • This thread also spells out how to protect your privacy via proper phone safety at demonstrations—before, during, and after the protest.
• Tella - Hide and encrypt your photos and videos on your phone so they cannot be found in your gallery.
• Doxcare - Prevention and aftercare for those targeted by doxxing and political harassment.
• Remove Your Data from Data-Broker Sites to protect against doxxing with these tools
  • DeleteMe - Monthly subscription for about $8/mo but removes data automatically from hundreds of sites.
  • EasyOptOuts - The cheapest service out there for $20/year. Removes from 160 of the most major data broker sites.
• The Counter Surveillance Resource Center - A collection of tools by No Trace Project to help protesters understand the capabilities of their enemies, undermine surveillance efforts, and ultimately act without getting caught.

What to Wear

• Fashion Tips for the Brave - If you’re setting out to accomplish something risky, taking these precautions is crucial. If you’re not, you can help protect others and avoid making yourself a target.
• The Femme’s Guide to Riot Fashion - Hot riot-chic, chemical-resistant looks for the mindful femme.
• Blocs, Black and Otherwise - Learn how to effectively dress and operate as a black bloc in protest situations.

What to Pack

Protective Gear Guides

Be prepared to ditch any serious protective gear such as helmets, body armor, gas masks, and others. Police have been known to target folks wearing such items and use the possession of them as pretext for arrest.

• A Demonstrator’s Guide to Helmets - This guide explores a wide range of protective headgear, detailing the advantages and disadvantages of each, so you can pick out what’s best for you.
  • If you anticipate that no one else will be wearing a helmet, wear something concealable or inconspicuous—a bump cap baseball cap, a low-profile skate helmet under a hood, or a bicycle helmet—so as not to make yourself a target.
  • If you anticipate that many people will be wearing helmets, wear the best helmet you can get your hands on. If there are BLOCs at your action, consider switching helmets with other comrades to help maintain anonymity. BLOCs are often targeted by police.
• A Demonstrator’s Guide to Gas Masks and Goggles - Everything you need to know to protect your eyes and lungs from gas and projectiles.
• A Demonstrator’s Guide to Body Armor - Protect yourself against blows, batons, bullets, and more

You can read some more tips about protest gear from protesters in Hong Kong here.

How to Plan Your Entrance & Exit

The key is to arrive and leave events in a way where your identity cannot be easily detected. There are license plates readers, facial recognition scanners, security cameras, and much more to go after protesters during and after an event.

• Use the buddy system. Do not enter or leave a protest alone. Always move with another person or group to avoid being snatched by the cops. There is safety in numbers.
• Know your mode of transportation (car, bus, train, bike, etc.). If you are arriving by car, park farther away and walk, scooter, or rideshare into the event. If you are arriving via public transportation, use cash only for any fares. This will help you reduce your digital footprint and help you maintain anonymity from the cops.
• More coming soon...

Emergency Protocol

If there is even the smallest possibility of you getting arrested, please follow as many of these tips provided by Los Angeles activists.

Use the Buddy System

1. Choose an offsite buddy (friend, comrade, affinity group member)
2. Give your buddy the following:
   1. Full Name
   2. Date of Birth
   3. Gender on ID
   4. Extra Emergency Contact for you
   5. Medical needs, if any
   6. How to contact your job (if applicable)
3. Set check-in times for them to call you.

Your Protocol

• Use the buddy system and NEVER leave your buddy behind.
• Do not go to the front-lines of a protest if you have a current case, current charges that haven't been filed yet, or immigration liabilities.
• Write your local jail support number on your body in an inconspicuous spot. (See: Jail Support section below for local numbers). Police have been known to smear or wipe off numbers on arms.
• Write your personal emergency contact on your body.
• Bring Your ID with you. If arrested without an ID, you'll have to wait in jail longer.
• Turn OFF all your phone biometrics. If arrested, delete your Signal app immediately.
• Bring a sweatshirt. If arrested, wear your sweatshirt or they'll confiscate it as as "additional property" and you'll be freezing in the jail cell.

On-the-Ground Tactics

• A Step-by-Step Guide to Direct Action - What It Is, What It’s Good for, How It Works
• On-the-Ground Tactics - Protest like a pro. Building internal unity can be a real struggle for movements, but is vital to work together for long term success. By Street Civics.
• Recipes for Disaster | Crimethinc's glossary of 62 protest action ideas with instructions on how to do them.
• A Guide to Monkeywrenching - Tactics by environmental activists for individuals or small trusted groups.
• Blockade Tactics - by the Ruckus Society.
• Tips about Blockading - by Beautiful Trouble.
• Lock Boxes - How demonstrators can lock themselves together to create a blockade.
• How to Extinguish Tear Gas Canisters
• Tools and Tactics in the Portland Protests - This text offers an overview of a wide range of options from leaf blowers and umbrellas to shields and lasers.
• Creative Direct Action Visuals - Making banners and more by the Ruckus Society.
• How to Handle Unidentified Law Enforcement - by Street Civics.

First Aid

Basic First Aid in the Streets

• ▶️ How to Stay Safe During a Tear Gas Attack - Useful tips by a former US Marine on how to deal with tear gas exposure effectively.
• How to Get Clean from Chemical Exposure
• Eye Safety at Protests - You can read more on how to do an eye flush here.
• How to Protect Yourself from Audio Attacks - LRADs, sirens, etc. NOTE: LRADs have already been used in Serbia in early 2025.
• Crowd Control Wounds & Weapons: Protection & Treatment
• First Aid Guides for Protestors
• Frontline Medics Study Guide - A collection of guides, resources, and trainings from other groups compiled to decentralize the skills needed to provide direct community/street medic support and aid. Created to prioritize Black, Indigenous & POC, through an anti-colonial lens.
• Home Remedies for Common Maladies - Zine by Rosehip Medic Collective
• How to Become a Street Medic - A textbook by Riot Medicine sharing everything you need to know about becoming a medic for non-medical and medical professionals.

You can obtain more graphics on this subject here.

For Experienced Medics

• Protocols for Common Injuries from Police Weapons - For street medics and medical professionals treating demonstrators.
• A Demonstrator’s Guide to Responding to Gunshot Wounds - It can also be useful to read these accounts from people who have experienced gunfire at demonstrations.

Mental Health Support

• Trauma Processing Guide for Movements - learn how to process trauma before, during, and after potentially traumatic events

When Things Go Badly

• Making the Best of Mass Arrests
• How to Survive a Felony Trial - Keeping your head up through the worst of it.
• I Was a J20 Street Medic and Defendant - How we survived the first J20 trial and what we learned along the way.

Know Your Rights

• (US) Know Your Rights
  • Know Your Rights: 100 Mile Border Zone | Conozca sus derechos: Zona fronteriza de 100 millas
  • Know Your Rights by State | Conozca sus derechos por estado
    by Community Submission
  • Your U.S. Rights when Stopped by Police | Sus derechos en los EE. UU. cuando la policía lo detiene
  • Your Rights with ICE | Conozca Su Derechos con ICE
  • Your Immigrants' Rights | Sus Derechos Como Inmigrante
  • Immigrant Rights When Protesting | Sus derechos al protestar
    by National Immigration Law Center

Jail Support

• Immigrant Rapid Response Networks and Hotlines - Contact your local network if you see federal agents arrest or detain anyone in the community.
  • California
• Jail Support Numbers - Write your local jail support # on your body in an inconspicuous spot and call if you get cuffed.
  • Los Angeles: 424-610-3020
• National Bail Fund Network - a US directory of community-led bail and bond funds.
• How to Provide Jail Support - Learn what jail support is and how to start volunteering for it. Night owls would be well-suited for this role.

Legal Support

• Having the number of an attorney or someone who could help if you find yourself in a legal bind before getting involved in protests should be a no-brainer for activists. It’s a good idea to start with the National Lawyers Guild.
• National Lawyers Guild's Mass Defense Legal Support and Other Resources
• If the NLG can’t help you, googling “lawyers for protesters near me” can yield surprising results.