Friends and allies of CLDC! There are two important national days of protest coming up in the next two weeks:

1. Tesla Takedown: Global Day of Action – March 29, 2025

Tesla Takedown Day aims at stopping the spread of Elon Musk’s destructive influence over the federal government through the coordinated day of peaceful action against Musk’s flagship brand, Tesla. The end to this waking Trump/Musk nightmare WILL NOT come from politicians, responsible media, or the judiciary. It WILL COME from the collective, powerful actions of the citizenry. The organizers of these civic mobilizations are making it clear that we will not hand our country over to the oligarchs!

2. Hands Off! Day of Action – April 5, 2025

The climate, racism, sexism, transphobia, healthcare, jobs, personal privacy, national security, the economy, and global peace are all further under threat. On this national day of action, communities all over the country plan to hit the streets and collectively say “NO” to fascism and “NO” to the wholesale looting of data, resources, and sanity by the Trump/Musk administration. When navigating the website, you can click on the map to locate and join the nearest mass mobilization to your locale, and sign up for protest notifications from the organizers.

Both of these days of action offer a unique opportunity to get off the bench and get in the mix. CLDC encourages you to organize intersectionally and continue to create and expand the concentric rings of mutual aid that will be required to successfully weather this tempest. Whether you’re concerned about the Department of Education, the treatment of this country’s veterans, the fact that an un-elected billionaire is wielding unprecedented power, the rise of white supremacist nationalism, or the imprisonment of allies while Trump hops into bed with dictators . . . these are our days for movement building!

Remember that the fight to end oppression, racism, and abuse of power creates a strong motivating factor for the armed wing of the State and law enforcement to try to immobilize and frighten the people into submission. We can take great strides to protect ourselves from intimidation and surveillance that often arise when movements and government forces “mingle.” Below is a guide CLDC put together for people hitting the streets and organizing for the resistance. Please spread this to your allies and affinity groups far and wide!

1) Know your support network—have safety plans!!

Do you have a safety plan?

Who will you call if you’re arrested? Do you have their number memorized (you may not have access to your phone)? How can you prevent further harm if your phone is taken or missing (look into remote wipe options or factory resets, as well as “find my iPhone” tech). Does someone have a key to your house or car? Who will care for your human and non-human companions? Thinking through these details (what is the threat, what are your vulnerabilities, and how do you mitigate harm) will make you feel more ready and less anxious.

Do you have a Signal text group if you need rapid response help if under threat?

Have you and your friends discussed how you will summon each other in an emergency? For example, if baddies show up at your home or workplace, and you feel physically threatened – who will at least provide witness and mere presence if not more substantive help? Our communities often cannot rely on or trust police, so we need to think, plan, and practice how we can help each other be safer. Create a local map of “safe” houses or locations you could go to if needed. Do you have an emergency bag of meds, important stuff, a change of clothes, etc. in an accessible location if you needed to leave your home rapidly?

Who knows what you’re up to? Hopefully you’ve already learned the perils of broadcasting your “activities” in ANY sort of public setting, but having your besties, your sweetie, or your deeply trusted affinity group know ahead of time that you’re entering into a potentially high-risk situation can go a very long way if you become incommunicado. Here at CLDC, we text our team when we leave for higher risk activities, and again when we are safely ensconced at home. Getting into habits like this makes everyone feel like their comrades have their backs.

And don’t forget to practice. Just like those fire drills you had in grade school; you need to do a dry run if you want to be able to deal with such situations under duress. Plans will change and evolve with the times; reassess and revise accordingly.

2) Secure your data!!

Cell phones, the lil’ snitch in your pocket, is our biggest vulnerability when it comes to privacy and keeping your information (texts, contacts, financial info, photos and much more) from ending up in the hands of your adversaries/ baddies. We have become a culture that carries our most sensitive information as well as a tracking device everywhere we go. Between police taking phones and plugging them into forensic extraction devices, or far right extremists stealing phones from people they physically attack, our movements have been harmed by our failure to take digital security more seriously. Check out CLDC’s digital security resources for more.

A good digital security threat assessment to run through before you find yourself in a higher risk situation is to ask and answer the following questions:

*What or whom do I need to protect?
*Who do I need to protect it from?
*Who wants my information and how easy would it be for them to acquire it?
*What would happen if they got that information?
*What steps am I willing to take to stop that information gathering?

Take yourself seriously. Use strong passwords, open-source apps, and end-to-end encryption (e2ee) on all your devices (cell and computers). Remember there is no such thing as 100% security. First ask yourself, should I even be writing this down? Do I need to use names and details? Remember to engage in good document retention and destruction hygiene.

For more recommendations on how to secure your data: Look here.

3) Know your rights and risks when dealing with the State.

CLDC has been a national leader in developing and providing movement-aligned legal information and know your rights and risks trainings for over 22 years now. We have a large webinar library of many of those trainings here.

Cops glean a tremendous amount of information from the fact that rattled people make mistakes (hitting the hive to watch the buzz). You need to practice these magic words so they will come out of your mouth correctly when under stress.

*Am I being detained? (if no, walk away; if yes, ask why you are detained).
*I do not consent to any search (I’m not going to resist you).
*I’m invoking my right to remain silent.
*I want a lawyer.

And then REMAIN SILENT. Even innocuous information provided to the State may cause harm to yourself or others. Political movement participants do not cooperate or snitch to the State – which is often your political adversary. Know that lawyers may have an ethical duty to relay offers made by the State, including snitch offers. You are the boss of your lawyer and you make the decisions on whether to throw others under the bus to lessen your own harm. Know that people who cooperate with the State in the political context cannot return to political activism.[1]

4) Resilience for the long haul!!

Engaging in any activity that puts you in legal, physical, or emotional peril is stress-inducing. Carrying around a major stress load all the time can, and often will, create a two-fold problem as an activist. First and foremost, it may affect your mental health. When we do not recognize our limits, or take care of ourselves, relationships are negatively impacted, mistakes are made, and our quality of life plummets. Second, we may experience mental and/or physical exhaustion or burnout for a while.

The history of resistance and rebellion against those who choose to wield unjust power, or cause harm for profit, is as old as our humanity. We are one piece in a puzzle that goes far back beyond living memory. To create positive change in the world we must remain in change-making spaces. Taking wellness and effectiveness seriously, and arming yourself with information and support structures, can and will help you remain in those spaces. Know who you’re working with and trust your gut. If it doesn’t feel right, perhaps your intuition is hollering at your brain. Stop and listen. Unfortunately, there is no set of instructions that can keep you safe and out of harm’s way in every situation, but preparation and practice go a very long way in helping shape outcomes in perilous moments. Civil Liberties Defense Center has put a tremendous amount of time and effort into creating a webinar library that does a deep dive into countless topics, along with many written resource materials to keep you safer and more effective. We hope you will utilize and share these incredible activist resources often. As always, we’ve got your back!

[1] We are not saying that providing information as a serious crime victim, etc. is snitching per se. But naming your political comrades to get less jail time is.