Protests are common across the globe. People use protests to express their frustration, gain support for their cause or to force the relevant authorities to take their demands seriously. For the most part, protests are peaceful. However, crowds are unpredictable. A peaceful protest can turn into a violent situation in a heartbeat. When violence erupts in crowd, it has the potential to escalate at an alarming rate. Such violence can be directed against law enforcement, innocent bystanders, shop owners, and basically anybody who is in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The easiest way to survive a violent protest is to not be there…
In this article we will be discussing various strategies to survive when caught up in a violent protest. The best strategy to survive is to avoid being there in the first place. Unfortunately, avoidance is not always possible. It may happen that you are caught up in a protest by being in “the wrong place at the wrong time”. Or you maybe part of a peaceful and legal protest which suddenly erupts into a violent protest or riot. It may not even be a result of your own group. External groups or individuals with their own personal or political agendas may use a peaceful legal protest as an opportunity to promote their own agendas. A peaceful protest can result in violent chaos in a matter of minutes.
The more skilled you are at identifying the signs that the crowd behavior is changing, the greater the chance are that you can get out of there before the situation escalates. Here are some indicators that the mood in the crowd is changing and that you should start looking for ways to get to safety.
- Instigators calling on people to matters into their own hands
- Barricading of roads and preventing people from leaving or entering
- Brandishing or weapons or objects that can be used as weapons
- Fights breaking out between protestors
- Verbal or physical abuse of law enforcement officers
- Throwing of objects like bottles, stones, bricks, trash cans, etc.
- Setting objects like cars, tires, or vegetation on fire
Get out of a violent protest safely
A violent protest will generally move in a specific direction or be directed towards a specific focal point. Your objective should be to move with the flow of people and not against it. However, you do not want to end up at the focal point of the violent protest. So how do you do that? If you have family or friends with you, try to stay together but do not become fixated on that. Your own safety is of paramount importance. If you become hysterical or try to fight the mob while trying to stay with your family or friends, there is a very real risk that the mob’s anger maybe directed towards you.
The idea is to move with the flow of people but gradually move to the side of the crowd. If you manage to get to the fringe, it is easier to escape to a building or side alley. If stay in the center of the crowd, there is a risk of falling and being trampled. Whatever you do DO NOT FALL! If you do fall, try to get to your feet as quickly as possible by standing up in the same direction the crowd is moving. If you ca not get up, curl into a ball, cover your head with your hands and protect your ribs with your elbows and wait for the first opportunity to get to your feet.
If you are in a vehicle, do not attempt to drive through the crowd, not even in the same direction of the crowd movement. Mobs are notorious for targeting vehicles. Get out of your vehicle if you are surrounded by a mob and move to safety. If you do not get out of your vehicle when surrounded by an angry mob, there is a real chance that you may be injured by flying glass when car windows are smashed or when your car is overturned and set on fire by the mob. Remember, Life Over Property Always.
When law enforcement reacts to a violent protest
Here is the bad news, when this happens, there is no time to argue with the police or try to convince them you are not part of the mob. To the police, you are now part of the mob because you are there.
So here are your options:
- If the police you crowd dispersing option like teargas, pepper spray or stun grenades, run in the opposite direction – run away from the police. DO NOT run towards them as they may assume that you are attacking them! Again, if you run away, try not to fall and move to the side to enable you to escape into a building or side alley.
- When the police start arresting people and you are manhandled, do not resist and try to explain your situation. To the police, it will appear as if you are resisting arrest if you try to explain your situation. Rather use the police as an opportunity to get out of the crowd!
- There will always be video footage of police action and you can explain yourself afterwards when everybody is calm and prepared to look at your side of things on the presence of a lawyer.
LEARN MORE
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