The intent is not to frighten or discourage protesters. This does not happen to everyone and maybe not even for the majority of groups, but it does happen fairly often. So, protesters should be aware of the possibility. If you want to defeat these people, you have to be aware of their tactics and strategies. If you should have such a visitor at your event, he will be counting on you not expecting him. Forewarned is forearmed.
This thug on the upper right showed up at an impeach-Obama protest in LaVerne in Los Angeles County, said he was a City Planner and demanded that the protesters take the Impeach Obama posters off the fence. He was reportedly quite intimidating and seemed ready to fight.
outside a talk by sexual-predator, Bob Filner
Often the thugs that show up at protests seem be experienced, if not trained, and may have been sent by someone to discourage protests against Obama. They appear to know pretty well, how far they can go without getting into too much trouble. These are part of Obama’s “Brown Shirts,” enforcers and intimidators. The Democrats evidently reward their faithful street thugs by supporting them for what amounts to political patronage jobs.
It seems doubtful that these persons want to hurt anyone seriously. If they did, there would be a police investigation and maybe lawsuit. They just want to intimidate the demonstrators and discourage them from coming out, without getting themselves in trouble . If it is shown on YouTube, then it can put the same intimidation and fear in other groups at the same time.
Below, these Catholic students tour the country and protest for freedom of religion. They were caught by surprise by this attack in Little Rock, Arkansas. Notice a companion waiting in the car, probably still running, for backup and a quick getaway.
These Catholic students are not part of the impeach Obama campaign, but they are just used as an example of an attack by a thug. From their dress and chanting, they are evidently members of a Catholic order of some kind.
Obama supporters will also try to disrupt a protest by calling 911 and making false statements, such as there is a fight/riot or protestors are throwing things off the bridge. It may be helpful to notify the police and highway patrol ahead of time that fake 911 calls are a possibility.
If your vehicle is identifiable and parked in an isolated area, of course, it may also be vandalized or the air let out of the tires.
PREVENTION, DETERRENCE AND SELF-DEFENSE
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An assistant District Attorney in San Diego said that they they generally do not do anything about “scuffles” at protests. He said that they have too much more “serious” crime to deal with. The thugs know this well and that they can with near impunity get in your face, even shove you around and rough you up with no fear of any significant action by the police or courts, unless someone is seriously injured or there is significant property damage. They know that most of the people at these protests are mild-mannered, retired folks and suburbanites, who are not likely to want to fight them and they take full advantage of that. They look for small groups, whom they can easily intimidate.
You should watch for anyone that may be observing your protest. It is always a good idea to record any occurrences with a camera and/or voice recorder, but if the police will not charge an interloper with a crime, even if he pushes protestors around, it is not going to be of much use as legal evidence.
Police are, themselves, not always immune to politics/corruption and some police officers attempt to harass and intimidate impeach-Obama protesters. Go to this link for details:
Protesters can also carry pepper spray and stun guns for self defense. Pepper spray costs about $10 for a small tube and stun guys can be bought on Amazon starting at about $12. Neither pepper spray nor stun guns will necessarily disable a person, though. It may just make him more angry. Would only use those as a last resort.
They do seem to often work as a deterrent, however. If the interloper knows that you have these items, they are a lot less likely to approach you and get in your face. If you are expecting such problems, you can wear a stun gun or pepper spray on your belt and an experienced thug will most likely recognize what it is. Even though such self-defense items may not be totally reliable and effective, few people want to have it used on them. But you have to be sure, also, they they do not take it away from you and use it on you.
If someone does seem very angry and potentially violent, you are within your rights to warn him that you feel threatened, to keep his distance and display whatever self-defense item, you may have. If he invades your personal space (arm’s length) after being warned, you are justified in doing what is necessary to get him out of your personal space, if you feel there is a real threat.
I carry a weapon just for these types of incidents. Most times; they see the weapon in the holster and do not bother me. Which is good. I have no fear of killing someone who does try to attack me.
You always need to do this.
If you want to do an open-carry demo, that’s fine, but open carry is not the topic of this blog and not what is being advocated here, but impeachment and removal. I don’t want to suggest carrying guns to an impeach-Obama demo. If you are in a local group, where the members may feel that is appropriate, please discuss that with your fellow local members.