I was going to go but after spending almost an entire evening trying to find organizing information, I gave up and decided to sit this out.
There was no information on who was organizing this, who is backing it, and most importantly, who to contact. From an OPSEC standpoint, without a clear contact on who was organizing, it read like a false flag.
website had no information outside of the event
all POCs were “to be announced”
website for my area was on carrd with only the image of the flyer
all social media accounts are on techbro websites with no presence on mastodon or lemmy. Their bluesky account never directly answered the question of who was behind the account
I hope to God I’m wrong and hope that organizers are well intentioned but given our current political climate, I need to know who is putting this out there. I’m not the only one worried. Many others on Bluesky, reddit, Facebook, etc all raised concerns. One reply I read was “contact us on discord”.
Which upcoming protests would your friends recommend going to instead? Assuming that someone can’t travel to DC.
I hope to God I’m wrong and hope that organizers are well intentioned but given our current political climate, I need to know who is putting this out there
What might happen to someone who attended a not “well intentioned” protest, that wouldn’t happen to someone who attended a normal one?
Which upcoming protests would your friends recommend going to instead? Assuming that someone can’t travel to DC.
One that:
organized by people you know or by organizations you trust
organized by people who have “skin in the game” (i… people of color, LGBTQ+)
organized by someone with a name that is searchable
promoted by organizations within the opposition (e.g. Democrats, DNC, etc.)
As many of the above that can apply.
What might happen to someone who attended a not “well intentioned” protest, that wouldn’t happen to someone who attended a normal one?
If you end up going to a protest because “I want to do something” without doing any due diligence, you are placing your faith and trust to someone you do not know. If you arrive there, they may pretend to be a part of a leftist organization. You may end up trusting them more than you should, giving them more information than you should. If they are running the protest as a false flag and in bad faith, then you’ve given your private information to someone who intends you harm.
Best case scenario, the organizers don’t know what they are doing and are running the protest in good faith, but it also means they are new to this and don’t have good operational security.
Which upcoming protests would your friends recommend going to instead? Assuming that someone can’t travel to DC.
One that:
organized by people you know or by organizations you trust
organized by people who have “skin in the game” (i… people of color, LGBTQ+)
organized by someone with a name that is searchable
promoted by organizations within the opposition (e.g. Democrats, DNC, etc.)
As many of the above that can apply.
Such as? I’ve actually been looking for information on protests that are coming up, so that I can publicize them here, and have more than one day’s notice. What are some that are upcoming that I could spread the word about, that are good and trusted ones?
If you end up going to a protest because “I want to do something” without doing any due diligence, you are placing your faith and trust to someone you do not know. If you arrive there, they may pretend to be a part of a leftist organization. You may end up trusting them more than you should, giving them more information than you should. If they are running the protest as a false flag and in bad faith, then you’ve given your private information to someone who intends you harm.
Is it common for you that when you show up to a protest, people to start asking for your name and information about you? I have been to some protests and I have literally never had this happen or heard of this happening. Has it ever happened to you? Are you suggesting that the feds or somebody who doesn’t like protests, is creating new protests, so that they can then collect the information of anybody that shows up, and that they are not collecting the same information (or somehow unable to collect the same information) at real protests that happen, that they don’t like and want to punish people for taking part in?
I was going to go but after spending almost an entire evening trying to find organizing information, I gave up and decided to sit this out.
There was no information on who was organizing this, who is backing it, and most importantly, who to contact. From an OPSEC standpoint, without a clear contact on who was organizing, it read like a false flag.
I hope to God I’m wrong and hope that organizers are well intentioned but given our current political climate, I need to know who is putting this out there. I’m not the only one worried. Many others on Bluesky, reddit, Facebook, etc all raised concerns. One reply I read was “contact us on discord”.
Fuck. That.
There wasn’t even a link to their discord!!!
Edit: compare this to the protest happening in front of the Treasury
Which upcoming protests would your friends recommend going to instead? Assuming that someone can’t travel to DC.
What might happen to someone who attended a not “well intentioned” protest, that wouldn’t happen to someone who attended a normal one?
One that:
As many of the above that can apply.
If you end up going to a protest because “I want to do something” without doing any due diligence, you are placing your faith and trust to someone you do not know. If you arrive there, they may pretend to be a part of a leftist organization. You may end up trusting them more than you should, giving them more information than you should. If they are running the protest as a false flag and in bad faith, then you’ve given your private information to someone who intends you harm.
Best case scenario, the organizers don’t know what they are doing and are running the protest in good faith, but it also means they are new to this and don’t have good operational security.
Such as? I’ve actually been looking for information on protests that are coming up, so that I can publicize them here, and have more than one day’s notice. What are some that are upcoming that I could spread the word about, that are good and trusted ones?
Is it common for you that when you show up to a protest, people to start asking for your name and information about you? I have been to some protests and I have literally never had this happen or heard of this happening. Has it ever happened to you? Are you suggesting that the feds or somebody who doesn’t like protests, is creating new protests, so that they can then collect the information of anybody that shows up, and that they are not collecting the same information (or somehow unable to collect the same information) at real protests that happen, that they don’t like and want to punish people for taking part in?