In September 2025, federal troops and the National Guard were sent to Portland, Oregon. Instead of creating fear among the city’s residents, the population has responded with increasingly imaginative forms of resistance, including unicorns and frogs. Across the country, protesters have generated ideas that we can all use to keep protests non-violent and safe.

  1. Create dance party sections among the crowd. Musicians or DJs lead small groups of protesters in singing and dancing, some of whom carry protest signs. It creates a less threatening aspect to the crowds of protesters.
  2. Have universally appealing classical music and/or pop music playing in small groups or on phones. Get the crowd singing. Music binds us all together as human beings – those of us protesting, and those who may interrupt our protests. Children’s songs and folk music also have universal appeal.
  3. Bring pictures or simple stories that can help explain basic progressive ideas to the opposition. If you run into a counter-protester, use these pictures and stories to talk to those who may be less well-informed. You can explain things to others – you may need visual props to make it easier.
  4. Have battery-operated leaf blowers in the group to repel the tear gas.
  5. Dress up in costumes. It doesn’t matter, really, but the more childish and/or ridiculous, the better. Portland has been full of frogs, unicorns, and dinosaurs lately.
  6. Toss glitter in the air when you get too close to military personnel. It will stick to their clothing and let others know that those armed people have not been keeping a respectful distance – best to back away.
  7. When a wall of police or armed ICE agents heads towards the group, immediately break the large group of protesters into smaller groups that head in multiple directions. Disperse down side streets or into nearby neighborhoods in small groups.
  8. Have a small group of protesters who are willing to do this dress in jeans and body armor, wearing dark glasses and face masks. Those people walk into a group of ICE agents and start (non-violently, conversationally) accusing 1 or 2 of being imposters. When they start fighting among themselves about their own authenticity, the protesters in disguise walk away.
  9. A foot doctor recommends cutting your toenails in preparation for a protest, wearing moisture-wicking socks, doing ankle rotations to help with strength and flexibility, and massaging your feet with moisturizer.
  10. If the group you are in begins to sense that paid counter-protesters have been placed into the group to instigate violence, have everyone sit down in a tight group. The counter-protesters will not, as a rule, sit, which makes them easily identifiable.

 

I came across this article today and thought the information might be helpful to those who want to take special care to maintain their mental and emotional well-being during a protest.

https://paultshattuck.substack.com/p/no-kings-field-kit-staying-human