Top 10 Famous Protest Plazas

http://www.topyaps.com/top-10-famous-protests/

How to Organize Protests and Demonstrations

Protests and demonstrations help get your message across to two important audiences: the public and the protest target. Make sure you prepare and organize, so that your protest will be as effective as it can be.

Why Protest?

Protests generate media coverage for your issue, while also expressing your position to the target of your protest. Because protests sometimes antagonize the other side, it’s usually best to try to resolve the issue amicably before organizing a protest. However, there are going to be times when you can’t resolve the situation amicably, and a protest is an important tool to help get your message out.

Scheduling a Protest

When scheduling a protest, consider the target, the activists, and the media.

• Target: A protest is more effective when you know your target is present. If your protest at the state house takes place on a weekend and no one is inside the building while you are outside with your signs and leaflets, the legislators you are targeting will not see you, and your group will appear disorganized.
  
• Activists: A protest with a large number of people looks impressive to the media and to passers-by, so try to schedule your protest for a time when many activists are available.
  
• Media: Try to schedule your protest early enough in the day so that a camera crew has time to attend your event and make it back in time to edit the video for the evening news. If your protest is at 5pm, it's going to be difficult for them to show it on the 6pm news, although it may show up on the late news. Also, the Sunday newspaper is the most-read edition, while Saturday’s is the least-read. A Saturday protest will likely be covered in the Sunday newspaper, which will be read by a larger audience, while coverage of a Friday protest will appear in Saturday’s newspaper and reach a smaller audience.

These three considerations sometimes clash, but of these three, it’s more important to consider the schedules of your target and the activists.

Preparing for Your Protest

Protest preparation is important to make sure everything goes smoothly on the day of the protest.

• Protest Permit: Contact the local police and find out about protest permit requirements as far in advance as possible. You may find in some towns that no permit is necessary, but it is still a good idea to notify the police in advance so they can be there for crowd control. Then notify your activists of all the protest details as soon as you have your protest permit.
  
• Getting your Message Out: Send out press releases the day before the protest, to make sure the media shows up. Make signs and posters to make it obvious why you are protesting. The text on the posters should just be a few words, and the font should be large and bold, so that a pedestrian across the street can read it easily. If you will be in an area with foot traffic, print fliers that you can distribute to people who want more information about the issue. Prepare a press kit to hand out to reporters. The press kit should be a folder that contains your press release, any literature that you are handing out at the protest, and general information about your organization. Prepare yourself to make a statement to the media and to answer questions about why you are protesting.

Right to Protest

In the United States, your right to protest is guaranteed under the First Amendment of the US Constitution as part of your right to Free Speech. However, the government can place reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on that right. Common restrictions include requiring a protest permit, limiting sound levels, and prohibiting the obstruction of roads, sidewalks, and building entrances and exits. Try to plan your protest as far in advance as possible, and speak with the local police about their requirements for protests. If those requirements seem unreasonable, speak with an attorney. If your group cannot hire an attorney, try contacting your local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Kettling the game

Manage protestors by detaining them en-masse in this puzzle game! If you mess everything up, bring in your horses (i.e. reset the level) with the space bar.

Game

Being safe at protests - Protest kit

Protest kits

Mask-wearing protestors in D.C. can now be arrested

By: Freeman Klopott | Examiner Staff Writer | 11/28/10 10:05 PM


Wearing a mask while protesting outside a residence without telling D.C. police first could now get you arrested.

The D.C. Council has unanimously passed a strongly worded bill to deal with an animal rights group that has been known to wear masks and appear unannounced outside District residents' homes shouting things like "You should die." Residents have been complaining to their council members that they felt "terrorized." Critics of the bill say it's too broad and limits First Amendment rights.

"They scared some people so much that they feel like prisoners in their own homes," said Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh, who sponsored the Residential Tranquility Act of 2010.

Police can be called, Cheh said, but they don't always have the legal grounds to arrest the protesters.

The animal rights group in question, Defending Animal Rights Today and Tomorrow is the local offshoot of Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty. The international group was set up in 1996 to organize protests against Huntington Life Sciences, a European company that provides animals for corporate science experiments.

According to the group's Web site, they recently protested outside the Dupont Circle home of a Goldman Sachs executive, who the group claims is connected to HLS. It's unclear how, and DARTT didn't respond to requests for comment for this story. Pictures show the protesters wearing masks, and white trench coats with a bloodlike substance on them.

Now, police have the authority to arrest the protesters -- groups of three or more -- on sight if they:

» Fail to inform police before a protest;

» Protest outside a residence between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.;

» Wear masks.

The American Civil Liberties Union came out against the bill.

"It's already unlawful to wear a mask while committing a crime," said Arthur Spitzer, the legal director for the ACLU's Washington branch. "Now they've prohibited peaceful demonstrations when people are wearing masks ... and there are legitimate reasons to protest outside a house with a mask on." For example, an employee may want to protest her boss and wear a mask so she won't get fired, he said.

Cheh pointed to the 1988 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court ruled the First Amendment allows the government to protect people from "objectionable speech" when in their homes.

"People shouldn't have to put up with this repeatedly without being able to get help from the police because a group is able to beat the system," Cheh said.

C.O.P Suit

C.O.P Suit

C.O.P Suit was inspired by the COP15 climate summit. The brief was to propose solutions for, or to comment on, the ongoing climate debate – using wearable technology and design as a medium.

The C.O.P Suit is an experiment in personal protest wear, designed to address the by now almost ritualised stand-offs between police and demonstrators – what has ironically been described as the ‘folk dance of disorder’. The suit is composed of an armored protection sleeve connected to a megaphone-mounted helmet, offering protection as well as the possibility of voicing commands, orders or simply generating noise. The suit is designed as a purposefully ambiguous and (slightly) ironic artifact, echoing the fetishistic visual language of protesters and police alike – a comment on the similarity of the means each side employs.

The C.O.P suit is designed to be completely self-sustainable – utilising kinetic energy from common gestures in a protest situation (the fist thrust triumphantly into the air, the swinging of a baton or the force of a strike to the armor) to power the megaphone, making rioting hard on the ears, but easy on the conscience.

環保示威內衣為大聲公充電

在民主社會中，市民有上街示威抗議和平表達訴求的權利，但在不少「大場面」警察會穿上全套防暴裝備應付示威者，雙方很容易發生推撞而造成意外。

揮動手臂 自動發電

丹麥有設計學院學生以別出心裁構思，為示威人士設計個人示威戰衣，戰衣結合了環保能源裝置，讓大聲公的電源「長叫長有」，包保口號的聲浪可抵受警方所播的古典音樂。

這套示威戰衣名為C.O.P. Suit，戰衣包括一頂裝有大聲公的頭盔及一件裝在右臂上的臂甲，臂甲與頭盔之間以電線相連，手臂格擋或揮動時，會牽動衣內的自動發電裝置，產生電力供應到大聲公的儲電池。只要用家保持活動，大聲公的電源就會得到無限供應。

Link

How to Hold a Legal Political Demonstration

Freedom of speech is one of our most dearly held rights and a building block of any democracy. But there are laws that govern the assembly of people for the purpose of holding a protest rally. Follow these steps to learn how to demonstrate without violating the law
.
Instructions

1

Find out whether you need a permit to hold a rally in your area. In some localities a permit is needed, in others, it is not.

2

Notify the governor, mayor and other public officials of your intent to gather. If a demonstration is to take place at a university, you must obtain permission from the authorities and if given permission, stay within the boundaries provided for such rallies.

3

Inform the public ahead of time. Announce the date, time and location of the rally. Make sure that you are in a free-speech zone, and that the demonstrators stay within the boundaries.

4

Appoint members to keep the assembly under control. No weapons are allowed, but the police may be called in to detain demonstrators who are causing or inciting others to cause trouble.

5

Do not block the entrances to any buildings, and observe any local laws regarding the mandatory distance you must maintain from military or other establishments. The police have the right to break up any demonstration that threatens to harm the public or cause a riot.