II. OBSERVATION FORMATION
Keeping Eyes On Potential Threats (Fire)
This formation is our secondary group. They will be responsible for observation of our exterior, informing based upon potential aggression, and confirming suspicions of agitation or escalation.
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Fire is in constant motion around a centralized point. A main section of flame surrounds a focal point, with embers rising and falling around it in seemingly random pattern. A fire is alive in this way, breathing and seemingly chaotic. Our observers will move in like fashion. They will be the embers that gently dance upon the breeze, but carrying the potential to light a fire under our main protest group, should any threats make themselves evident.
This formation is to be spread on the exterior of our main protest. It will be located on street corners, sidewalks, and surrounding blocks, in order to be the eyes and ears of our protest movement. The individuals with this responsibility will mingle with any locals who are present, not only to engage them in conversation and potentially swing them to the cause, but also to find any potential agitators (as well as communicate to innocent bystanders when escalation is about to occur.
REMEMBER: we are here for our community. We WILL prioritize their safety, as well).
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Aggression can take many forms during a protest. In this section I will cover two of the broader examples, and what the responsibility is of those who observe them.
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The first, and most obvious form of aggression is police escalation. This begins with the donning of riot gear, moves to an announcement of intent (or, it should), and then the utilization of crowd control measures to disperse a crowd forcefully. Police forces will routinely use encircling measures to make their way around a protest in order to corral, contain, and more easily disperse/dominate those involved. Our observers will be keeping watch for all of these circumstances.
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They will:
Watch for police arrivals and departures
Watch for escalation of gear (riot helmets, gas masks, grenade loads, batons and shields)
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Keep eyes on police movements in order to better inform the main protest body of potential corralling.
THEY WILL NOT ENGAGE.
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The second, and less obvious form of aggression is from bad actors that may insert themselves in and around a peaceful protest in order to sow chaos and destruction, generally in order to have the protest itself vilified. This one is trickier. For our observation unit, we will focus on those who present on the outside of our protest.
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Those who are potential agitators on the exterior can include, but are not limited to: white supremacists, fringe extreme groups, thrill seekers, angry bystanders, etc. By and large, we will be unable to pick out who they are by appearance alone, as anyone who comes with intent to agitate will also come prepared to blend into the crowd. For this reason, we will be focusing on actions.
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These agitators may (not all inclusive list):
Destroy private property
Deface public property
Throw objects/material at police/protestors
Set fires
Set off fireworks
Deploy small smoke grenades
Attempt to engage in violent confrontation with police/protestors
Our observers will keep eyes for any of the above actions, and any potential preceding incidents. They will watch for the deployment of any incendiaries, spray cans, and weapons. Anyone who is not part of our protest but is observing it with any object that can be utilized in above cited manners (or carrying a bag large enough to contain them) will be observed and reported to our leadership corps. Any potential act of aggression that is observed will be reported immediately to our leadership corps.
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As always, our observers WILL NOT ENGAGE.
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Once a report is made, they will go back to their primary movements, observing and reporting either on their own recognizance or at the direction of leadership, depending on what is discerned from their initial report.