hey fellow people not able to attend protests: one way we can join in is by reporting abusive comments & adding/uplifting messages of support! if you have the time & mental/emotional bandwidth to trawl through the sludge a LOT of assholes/trolls/bots are making violent threats.

if you go onto almost any protestor/journalist/witness posting video/reporting on police brutality, you'll find tons of (often suspiciously new) accounts trying to dogpile. Many of them egg on cop violence or even outright promise to run over or shoot protestors themselves.

Usually it's not worth directly engaging with these comments! Save your time/energy & don't legitimize them with response. Report them if they make threats or harass people - check their replies outright slurs & curses at verified accounts which are an easy flag.

Twitter's system for reporting harassment is biased against marginalized groups & generally shitty but many of these bigots are making it VERY easy to flag them for violent threats & harassment! A few people flagging an account doing so can trigger automatic suspensions.

If you also feel up to supportive comments, go for it! Focus on direct replies to the original tweets - that goes for protestors & also gov accounts you want to criticize. State support for protestors, firm denouncement of police/fed beating & imprisoning ppl during the pandemic!

Seek out & uplift local groups online too! Every day I see orgs like @FangCollective @PROVXPVD @amornetwork fighting the good fight & they can't do it alone. Check their replies for cop-lovers hurling abuse, back them when news orgs spread misinfo, promote bailfunds/mutual aid.

Sometimes it's worth it to roll up your sleeves & jump into replies infested w/ trolls & "riotors are thugs!!!" types - but pick your battles! Remember ppl still read & trust "official" news/police accounts, & simple, clear pro-protests/ #DefundThePolice comments might reach them.

Just keep in mind that our 1st priority is to support/defend those putting their lives & livelihoods on the line (esp incarcerated folks in COVID19 hotspots) & to embolden ppl who already agree/sympathize to also speak up & push back against these assholes online & off.

I've been doing this thing for a while (sometimes at the detriment to my mental/physical health -__-) because I KNOW online life is very real & matters in the fight! And now more ppl than ever are stuck at home depending on soc media for news & public responses to protests.

So when commenting: 1) Respond to OPs, 2) Be clear & firm in your support, 3) DON'T fall for defending "peaceful protestors NOT rioters bc violence is wrong", 4) Supply accessible sources if you have them, 5) DON'T SNITCH TAG PROTESTORS UNASKED! Make new tweets to @ gov/big accs.

And if you're tweeting at your gov reps, remember that while they do keep track of public response on soc media, emails & phone calls effect policy more strongly! Our tweets are more for reaching folks looking up what their governor had to say about current events I think.

A good thing to do is to urge sympathetic readers to directly email/call - PLEASE include phone # & email addresses in tweets if you can! And links to scripts (often supplied by local groups) are EXTREMELY helpful esp since so many of us are deathly afraid of calls, lmao.

Remember above all that you are not alone in this, no matter how isolated you may be! The fight will continue if you need a break - and we ALL need them. Stress of following events/fighting/supporting loved ones can seriously WALLOP you (esp those of us w/ disabilities/triggers).

With that said, I'm going to go rest my hands/wrists! Good luck out there, and take care of yourselves and each other Oh & support folks EVERY DAY, not just during protests! Groups like @projectlets @BlackandPinkPVD @amornetwork https://twitter.com/kimchi_baby_/status/1279490893616218112 https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-covid19-relief-for-dancers-fs-workers

(OH YEAH also this is maybe obvious but if you are wading into comments GO THROUGH THEM AND BLOCK THE ASSHOLES FIRST. Might save you some harassment. You don't owe anyone a "debate" either! Block away.)