Protest Questions and Answers
by Susan Basko, esq.
1. peaceful protests where people got arrested -
Answer: Protesting is legal. It is our Constitutional right. Very few protesters are arrested, overall. If a protest is peaceful, arrests are not likely. However, even at a peaceful protest, there can be people doing things that get them arrested. In addition, if a protest runs for too many hours, often police begin causing trouble, randomly attacking and arresting people. If you want to run a peaceful protest, keep it to 2 hours maximum. If you want to keep yourself safe at a longer protest, leave after a reasonable amount of time before people and police get cranky and start doing things they should not.
2. fbi infiltrate seattle protestors
Answer: I don't know anything about this, but it would not surprise me. You might want to google this and see what information is out there.
3. "facebook" and "doxbin"
Answer: Facebook is a major social media. Doxbin is a type of site usually used by hackers, stalkers, or people engaged in violent crimes. Some of the people that are involved in Doxbin crime sites have Twitter and/or Facebook accounts.
4. california unlawful assembly required announcement
Answer: In California and most other places, if the police decide that a protest is an unlawful assembly, they are supposed to make an announcement over loudspeaker or shouted if there is no loudspeaker. They are supposed to repeat the announcement as many times as it takes and from different locations so that everyone has a chance to hear it. The police might not do all this, though. In the announcement, the police officer will state that the protest or gathering has been declared an unlawful assembly and that people must leave or they will be subject to arrest and to weaponry. The announcement is supposed to tell which direction people are supposed to walk to leave. Many (most?) people at a protest do not know which direction they are facing, and often to do not know the name of nearby streets. So when police announce that people are to "walk West on Smith Street," most people won't know where that is. The order to leave an unlawful assembly is called an Order to Disperse. That means to leave and go home. When an order to disperse has been given, police are supposed to allow protesters to leave and not try to kettle them or capture them. If you do not obey an order to disperse, or if you are caught in a crowd that cannot quickly leave, you may experience tear gas, pepper spray, LRAD (a sonic weapon), rubber bullets, flash bangs, etc, as well as face being arrested or kettled.
5. giving dispersal orders during a unlawful assembly
Answer: See the answer to #4 above. It is the same in many states. If an unlawful assembly has been declared, the police are supposed to announce that and give an order to disperse, followed by telling people where they need to walk to leave the area.
6. what happens if you're arrested at a protest
Answer: Usually they put zip ties on your hands, usually too tightly, and they make you stand around or sit around waiting to be transported somewhere. Then, usually they put you onto a hot bus and make you sit on it for hours. Then, they usually take you someplace to be processed, maybe a jail, maybe some impromptu place. Then, they hold you for hours or up to a few days and let you go, either based on your identification or based on bail money. Usually while you are being held, you will not have water, food, or a chance to go to the bathroom.
7. anaheim protest live
Answer: I don't know anything about this. There are protests all over the place, including Anaheim.
8. are peaceful protesters getting arrested
Answer: Yes, that happens sometimes. Most peaceful protesters do not get arrested, but some do.
9. arrested protester being denied insulin
Answer: If you are arrested at a protest, you will almost surely not be given any medicines, even if you need them. If you need medicine, let the police know right away and maybe they will let you go home instead of arresting you. Giving you any medicine while in custody will require either that you have it with you and then being allowed to take it, or the police would have to bring you to a hospital for a prescription, and they are extremely unlikely to do that. If you are in medical need, it is probably best to avoid going to any protest that might get out of hand.
10. can you sue if you are hurt protesting
Answer: Sometimes protesters who have been injured by police by excessive use of force have sued the police and on rare occasions, they have won. If a protester is hurt by the negligent or criminal acts of another, such as being run over intentionally by a car, they might sue the person that did it. Anyone in such a situation should speak with a Civil Rights lawyer or possibly a personal injury lawyer. They will evaluate your specific case for its facts and apply those to the law and then tell you if they think you have a case or not. Try to keep out of the way of trouble at a protest. In the George Floyd protests, it has been reported that police have shot many people with rubber bullets. Rubber bullets are extremely dangerous and should never be used to disperse a crowd. During these protests, it has been reported that numerous people have lost an eye after police shot them in the eye with a rubber bullet. Rubber bullets should be banned from use in protests.
11. cost of getting out of jail after protest
Answer: This can range from simply showing your identification all the way to thousands of dollars. It depends on what basis you were arrested or what you have been charged with. It also depends what "game" the police are playing at the moment. Maybe they're going to hold you on a hot bus for a few hours and let you go. Maybe they are going to take you to jail and make you go before a judge to set bail. It all depends. If people have to pay bail, it will be based sometimes on the set bail amount for that charge. It also depends on the state and even on the county. For example, failure to disperse can bring different bail amounts in different counties in the same state. Usually overall, most protest arrests will be no bail or a few hundred dollars, though some can be significantly higher.
12. la city rules for protests and marches -
Answer: Use the search bar on this site on the right hand side bar near the top.
