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EVERYONE IS A PEACEKEEPER
At any demonstration, police, counter-demonstrators, passerbys, police
infiltrators
or demonstrators may become overly aggressive, both verbally and
physically.
Whether or not there are official peacekeepers at a demonstration, it
is
important for everyone be aware of basic peacekeeping/de-escalation
techniques.
Everyone has both the right and the responsibility to do our best to
keep
our nonviolent demonstrations nonviolent.Peacekeepers, or anyone finding it necessary to de-escalate a situation, should try to be warm, open, respectful, friendly, and helpful; creative in intervening and resolving conflict; firm, but not rigid in your upholding of the guidelines; dealing fairly and honestly with people engaged in conflict; calm and able to control one's own feelings; forgiving. Below are a few of the best known and proven traditional peacekeeping techniques. They rely on the principles of moral suasion and, in some cases, the willingness to suffer potential violence for the cause of nonviolence. Nonviolent peacekeepers do not touch, grab, tackle or assault disruptive individuals or those destroying property. DO NOT TOUCH/THROW THINGS AT POLICE, no matter what. This could result in a long prison term. PEACEKEEPING/DE-ESCALATION
TECHNIQUES
** LISTENING:
What is it
the disruptive person is trying to say? Sometimes just having
someone
listen to their complaints is enough to calm them down.** TALKING DOWN: Remind disrupter(s) they are outside the action guidelines; explain how they may be endangering others; explain that they might be arrested and what the sentences are if convicted; remind them their acts are detracting from the message. ** SURROUND AND TALK: Four or more people surround the disrupter to stop the behavior and talk about it. (However, if they attempt to leave the circle, let them, or you could face kidnapping charges.) ** BLOCKADE AND TALK: Three or more people use their bodies as a blockade to protect a person or property being attacked and talk about it with the attacker(s). More details on peace keeping at this web page. |