I keep hearing things about the occupy Wall Street movement (I didn’t capitalize it on purpose). It looks like a joke. I’m not one of the top 1% in America, but I certainly don’t want to stand with them as part of their 99%. Their math is broken. If they were the 99% of Americans there would be hundreds of thousands of people out there with them. They are like the 1/10th of 1% of people. Dave Ramsey has a great write up about the entire “movement” you can read here.
I’m talking about this because if you want to get involved in a protest or “gathering” you need to pay attention. Part of the way these things get on the news is the people purposely piss off the cops so they overreact and use excessive force. If you are standing next to the person that makes the cops mad and that person gets tear gassed, so do you. If you are going to be involved in a protest you need to be prepared to leave at anytime. It’s really easy to feel when things are getting out of control. You can taste the adrenaline in the air. When that happens it’s time to leave. It’s also time to leave if the police announce “this is an illegal demonstration and you have to leave.” When they announce this, they are getting ready to use all necessary force to remove everyone from the area.
If you are not participating but live or work near a demonstration, you need to follow what is going on. These things can get out of hand and spread like wild fire. You don’t want to be in the building the “peaceful protesters” decide to light on fire. You also don’t want to drive down the middle of the mess. During the LA riots a trucker was pulled from his vehicle and nearly beaten to death. Luckily someone that lived around the corner saw what was happening live on the news and ran over and saved his life. Don’t be that person that depends on luck to save your life.
Once things start getting destroyed and people start getting hurt, it’s time to be concerned. Yes a riot is something cool to watch, and it’s like a train wreck, it’s hard not to be mesmerized. When you decide to leave, take the most direct path away from the crowds and police. Get far away from the crowd.
If your home is near one of these events when it starts getting out of hand, it’s time to think about protecting your family and home. The only businesses that weren’t destroyed in the LA riots were the ones people protected with firearms. Hopefully it never comes to that for you, but you should be prepared if the riot comes towards your home. You either have to leave and take only what you can carry or you have to stay and protect your home and family. Make no mistake; an angry mob can destroy anything. Mobs roll over cars, break down doors and walls, and trample or crush people to death all the time.
Think about when, how, and where you would evacuate. Also think through how you would defend yourself. The police would like to help you, but will be unable to. They will be too busy with the main body of the riot. All the police from your local area and outside areas will be busy. The National Guard and United States Marine Corps had to help put down the LA Riots.
Stay Safe,
Ben