Exercising Your First Amendment Rights? How to Avoid Antifa Violence at the Upcoming January 6th Protests

On January 6^th major demonstrations are planned by supporters of President Donald Trump to highlight last-ditch efforts by Conservative lawmakers at the joint session of Congress to formally count electoral votes. A significant number of House and Senate Republicans have announced they intend to move to reject electors from key battleground states where there has been significant indications of election fraud and other irregularities.

Organizers of the January 6^th rallies include Moms for Trump and “Stop the Steal,” groups which have hosted multiple Pro-Trump demonstrations around the country. President Trump personally tweeted information about the rallies to his supporters.

Previous Pro-Trump D.C. demonstrations have been met with significant violence by Antifa, who have assaulted participants and fought with members of the Proud Boys, a pro-Trump group which has repeatedly clashed with Antifa.

There is reason to assess that Pro-Trump demonstrators engaging in first amendment protected activities will be targeted for violence by Antifa and its allies on January 6^th. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has already issued a letter asking for the support of the National Guard. Bowser had previously opposed the use of National Guard resources during Antifa/BLM-led protest/riots, even celebrating efforts to “push out” the Guard from D.C. during the most significant periods of unrest back in June. The D.C. city government implied favoritism towards Antifa/BLM also increases the prospect for Antifa-led violence.

Here are some important steps participants can and should take to reduce the risk of assault or violence against their person:

1. Exercise Caution in Transitional Spaces

As contributor Erin Smith notes in the Center’s new monograph Unmasking Antifa: Five Perspectives on a Growing Threat, Antifa often targets demonstration participants in “transitional spaces” outside of the location of the event itself. Smith writes:

Businesses in these areas are often closed, and law enforcement and security forces tend to be drawn inward, focused on the actual event itself. This leaves a doughnut-shaped space of vulnerability around the event, radiating outward about two or three blocks before normal city activity resumes. Much like a predator stalking a grasslands watering hole, Antifa will frequently hunt for its prey in this zone.

This means that participants should exercise maximum caution while traveling to and from events, particularly from car parking garages and along foot routes to and from metro station routes to demonstration locations.

2. Blend-In to the Crowd

Avoid wearing or carrying materials that make your event participation in the designated march/demonstration area immediately obvious. While you have every right to wear or display messages of your political views, these items are likely to identify you, and may single you out for special attention by Antifa. Consider wearing demonstration attire beneath innocuous jackets or coats. You can always don relevant hats and shirts or unfurl flags and signage when you reach your destination when the numbers of participants and presence of law enforcement offer better security.

Similarly, consider avoiding black and yellow attire or wearing camouflage or other clothing with a military-style appearance. Antifa may take such dress as evidence of membership in the Proud Boys or “militia” and target you for this reason.

3. Don’t Be Too Early or Leave Too Late

The period where risks of attack or harassment by Antifa are most likely is prior to or following a demonstration or event. Crowds are thinnest before and after a protest, and so Antifa is more likely to establish a numerical superiority over potential victims at these times. If you are there to demonstrate, avoid using the trip as an excuse to socialize or dine-out. Remember you are there to engage in a first amendment protected exercise of free speech, not to see the tourism sights.

4. Avoid Emotionally Charged or “Claimed” Areas

As a localized insurgency, Antifa seeks to claim and defend territory it views as its own and where it rejects the right of its opponents to be present or engage in politics. Avoid places like Black Lives Matter Plaza as your presence in that location is likely to invoke a strong reaction. During a November 14^th protest Antifa-linked Shutdown D.C. amplified a BLM D.C. call for more of their supporters to occupy BLM Plaza, and “defend” it from pro-Trump demonstrators, creating a violent situation which quickly escalated.

Antifa members may also view other locations as being associated with their opponents. One example is The Harrington Hotel and Harry’s Bar, which a successful Antifa-led campaign caused to cancel reservations for protest goers and for the bar to close its doors to patrons on January 6^th.

5. Do Not Verbally Engage with Provocateurs

Antifa members will routinely seek to cause an individual participating in 1^st amendment-protected political activities to engage with them through verbal assaults, insults, and other undesired harassment. This is a deliberate technique intended to sideline your participation in the march or demonstration. During marches pausing to argue with or exchange words with Antifa members can result in being isolated from the rest of the participants, increasing the likelihood of violence against you.

While it sounds simple, declining to engage with Antifa harassment can be difficult in practice. Antifa members are often trained in direct action techniques intended to provoke reactions, even from professionally trained police officers. Expect that during such encounters Antifa supporters will be videotaping or recording your reaction, seeking to use your words or actions to delegitimize the cause you originally came to support. Engaging in such activity can also result in being selected as a target for future doxxing and harassment campaigns.

Ultimately, Americans of all political persuasions have a right to engage in politically protected speech and assembly anywhere in the United States. But while Antifa remains an active and growing threat in cities across the country, that right will be exercised under the shadow of potential criminal violence.

Regardless of the outcome of January 6^th, prudence dictates that Americans who wish to express themselves ought to take reasonable precautions while refusing to abandon their rights to speak and assemble publicly.