Here is a list of scheduled PSL-organized protests that are happening this weekend. They are probably still coordinating with other groups in some places so be sure to check back later if you live in a bigger city that isn’t on the list.
Friday, Jan. 27
Asheville, NC 7:00 p.m. Pack Square
Atlanta, GA 7:00 p.m. Centennial Olympic Park (Marietta St. NW and Centennial Olympic Dr. NW)
Boston, Mass. 7:00 p.m. Park Street Station
Chicago, Ill. 5151 N. Milwaukee Ave at 6:30 p.m. Plaza Tenochtitlan at 7:00 p.m.
New York City, NY 7:00 p.m. Times Square
Philadelphia, Penn. 7:00 p.m. City Hall (15th and Market St.)
San Diego, Calif. 7:00 p.m. Waterfront Park
San Francisco, Calif. 5:00 p.m. Powell and Market
Washington, D.C. 7:00 p.m. Lafayette Square
Saturday, Jan. 28
Athens, GA 6:00 p.m. The Arch
Atlanta, GA 12:00 p.m. Centennial Olympic Park (Marietta St. NW and Centennial Olympic Dr. NW)
Columbus, OH 3:00 p.m. Ohio Statehouse
Los Angeles, Calif. 11:00 a.m. LAPD headquarters (100 W 1st St.)
Manchester, NH 6:00 p.m. City Hall
Pittsburgh, Penn. 2:00 p.m. 515 N Highland Ave.
Salt Lake City, Utah 1:00 p.m. Liberty Park
Sunday, Jan. 29
Pensacola, Fla. 4:00 p.m. Seville Square
Springfield, MO 6:00 p.m. Park Central Square
West Chester, Penn. 1:00 p.m. West Chester Courthouse
NBC reported that most of the initial protestors in DC were PSL members
:fidel-salute:
Now, to await the inevitable and predictable :frothingfash: response, which is to say these protests are the work of communist agitators and their puppet-master, Soros.
Cops can and have used phone data to post-facto prosecute protestors, especially if curfews are being enforced. They will not arrest you, you will just receive a summons in the mail a couple weeks to a month after the protest. Knew a lot of people who had that happen to them in Minneapolis. It's how they identified alot of the January 6th guys as well. Honestly, I wouldn't even park your car near there, as they will also troll for license plates. Normally they are too lazy (plus the DMV is too understaffed) for them to pull all the car data, but it is there if they need it.
True op-sec is nearly impossible, but radios are a much better way to stay in contact and communicate with your group.
Any recommended reading for someone who's never been to a protest? I'm a couple hour drive from one.
Also, what are the implications of driving to another state to protest?
it's less risky if you're in contact with the organizers, know others who are going to be there, and/or can take your own crew of experienced hands to watch each other's backs. driving multiple hours to a protest alone is begging to get lost and stranded because you don't have a phone, id, and friends.
like one of the most valuable things during a protest is that the protestors walk those streets every day but cops generally drive everywhere. 10x that when they bring the national guard or cops from elsewhere - the crowd knows the local geography in a way that the authorities just don't. these are our cities.
when the cops know the city better than you, they can easily back you into a corner with no way out. stay powerful but be smart about it.
Thank you for the info. I didn't think about the car issue. I'll consider sitting this one out I suppose. Fucking sucks living rural, I need to move somewhere with a real leftist presence.
if there's a DSA chapter near you, they'll be able to plug you into stuff happening locally. in a lot of rural areas, they're the only leftist org around. plus, those chapters tend to be much more radical than the ones in the big cities. good luck, comrade.
Wear a mask and keep it on. Not only for covid reasons but so you’re harder to identify at a glance.
In some states, wearing a mask for concealing identify is a crime in the land of the free.
as someone who has been to numerous PSL protests, not one organizer does any of this stuff.
You actively discouraged the person you iniatally responded to from going ...
You erected a ton of mostly unessecary barriers between them and seeking out a protest.
They said they won't go in response to your suggestions, and you said that was a good idea.
It's because attending an out-of-state protest is a terrible idea, especially when the poster has to drive for two hours. Like, if the protest takes place at Kansas City, then obviously someone on the Kansas side shouldn't be discouraged from attending, but a two-hour drive is significant.
so it's just my experience that everyone parks at the event, has no facial covering, is coordinating in the Signal groupchat, and reading their speeches from their iphone, using their real name, and wearing distinct clothing? Text walter, I'm sure he'll be concerned your branch is doing weird stuff.
has no facial covering
Not even during the middle of a pandemic?
leaving the possibility that the cops can identify you is a horrible idea, no matter the protest or who's organizing it. they will retaliate even weeks or months later if they can. protect yourself and everyone around you. a basic understanding of opsec is self and community defense. don't paint a target on yourself.
also, should I join the PSL? requiring my phone number in a google form seems sus ngl
They call you for an interview. Using a fake number will disqualify you
hmm okay. can you vouch for them? not sure if it's worth the risk/investment for me since they aren't active in my area.
Would not recommend tbh. It’s worth it if you can build a relationship with your chapter and other comrades, but you seem a bit out of the way that would make showing up either expensive or infrequent. Other posters have recommended trying to find stuff in your locality, and I would echo them. The most important element is consistency, which can be difficult to maintain when you’re a car ride away
good call. is fake name frowned upon? i can use real info but still feel sus about bridging online and irl shit I guess
5151 N Milwaukee is the police station in the cop neighborhood. PSL getting spicy.
Yeah they are in the post body and linked article. Sorry I’m on my phone so I didn’t bother formatting
Shit, I'm 2 hours away from my nearest protest and it started over 2 hours ago
Should I still go? Will it still be going on tomorrow?
I could just go to the other one tomorrow but that's about 6 hours away
There might be others closer to you, these are just the ones that PSL are helping organize. And if I were to guess, this is gonna blow up like it did with the George Floyd protests so there will likely be more in the future.
Thanks, there's probably something in the small city near me but I don't know where to look
Maybe you could search #YourCityNameProtests on Twitter or something, otherwise yeah if you’re not already living in a city it’s a lot harder to know about and participate in them
Yeah I checked my local BLM chapter and they haven't posted anything in over a week
:doomjak: The last thing they posted was about a local activist who's gone missing, possibly dead
Be sure to check the Saturday and Sunday protests! There are a lot more cities there
thought i'd do some news posting, this was probably here already but:
U.S. threatens African nations with secondary sanctions.
On her Africa tour, Yellen threatened African nations with sanctions if they do business with Russia over anything on the sanctions list. She said:
Violation of those sanctions by local businesses or by governments—we would respond to quickly and harshly and we certainly urge that there be compliance with those sanctions. That’s the discussion I’ve had here” This follows previous threats from the US ambassador to the UN on her Africa tour, where she relayed the message that while African nations may be permitted by the US to buy food products from Russia, under no circumstances should they buy Russian oil or energy, lest they too be subjected to sanctions.
