In the wake of car attacks, #seattleprotest have used a protective protest technique we call car brigades. I worked on this for a while now to share how it works, thread incoming.

In the wake of deaths of #summertaylor and #GarretFoster. RIP
#PDXprotest #AustinShooting

The premise is that you can effectively protect a protest march with about 20-30 cars from car attacks while keeping the route a secret for better opsec. You’ll need numbered cars, walkie talkies and ideally some folks on bikes to do it.

At upcoming intersections, coordinators shuffle frontline cars to block off roads on either side of the protest route. Have bike brigade folks there to help coordinate flowing traffic and alert people safely to take alternate routes.

Always keep cars at the front and back of the protesting crowd as they move through. Once the protesters have moved through, shuffle cars back into the field to be used at future intersections. Cars cycle through like this to block off every intersection the crowd passes.

Turning on intersections functions more or less the same but requires a little more care since you’re blocking off incoming traffic head-on. Have bike brigade handy to help coordinate. Stop the protest crowd if necessary while doing this, but always have cars in front of them.

Marching on larger streets such as large bridges or highways looks like this. Cars box in protesters while driving slowly bumper to bumper. Leave enough buffer between people and cars as you do this. This is harder with a larger crowd of course.

These techniques have been one of the most effective protective ones I’ve seen so far.
Police might write tickets for the cars, but that’s largely all they can do.

This has resulted in some of the safest marches we’ve had in Seattle.

Please share this technique far and wide!

Kudos to Seattle protest security teams for letting me share this info and make it into graphics!