Would community defense organizing be good?

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[–] 98 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Alone, you are out-manned and out-gunned. Community is probably the best bet as bullies rely on uneven strength for their confidence. They're untrained and want an easy target. Don't give them it

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  • [–] [S] 18 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    I really wish there are free community defense classes

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  • [–] 31 points 10 months ago* (1 child)

    What kind of classes? Shooting? If so I'd say shooting won't help much unless you have a community response to those threatening you. It just gives ammunition to those calling the American population dangerous, and trying to break them into groups so they can exploit hatred and fear. I believe that standing by all "groups" no matter what is what needs to happen. When someone tries to divide to conquer, the best answer I can see is avoiding any divides. The problem is it works on so many people, that about 30% of the country agrees that they have enemies in the country. Yet those people they think are enemies... Are no one they know, and would take as a friend if they were their neighbor.

    Edit: that's said as someone taught to shoot when I was 8 and has owned guns from 18, I'm 36. Guns aren't the answer without community

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  • [–] 48 points 10 months ago

    First, contact as many people as you can, especially local ICE watch orgs. A lot have hotlines which you may be able to find with a web search. Next start recording. Delay as long as possible. Ask for a warrant, stay calm and maybe try to negotiate as a stall tactic. This will hopefully give community members time to arrive and record or hopefully apply pressure if they are brave and numerous enough. It is possible to intimidate and drive them back with enough numbers.

    All else fails at this point I would not fight back and allow yourself to be arrested. Most citizens being arrested right now are being released. The courts are slow but still upholding the law for now. If you are not a citizen then your options might not be as good. Fighting back is likely to get you injured or killed but if you have an escape route it could be worthwhile, especially if you can escape in areas where motor vehicles can't go. Their level of fitness is generally low so they can't give chase for long, and as long as you're not high profile you might be safe once you get away, though you'll likely need to lie low somewhere.

    If you're asking what to do about the current political situation in a broader sense then I have different answers.

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  • [–] 39 points 10 months ago

    I think groups of openly armed citizens patrolling the streets would be a huge deterrent to ICE. These guys are violent bullies when they operate against unarmed people, but I doubt they are willing to mess with a mass of armed defenders.

    But if the military continues to go along with Trump then this just may escalate things.

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  • [–] 69 points 10 months ago

    2A. What it was intended for.

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  • [–] 57 points 10 months ago* (6 children)

    Unless you're actually breaking the law and they're not fake cops. In that instance you're the asshole.

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  • [–] 37 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    Some would argue that shooting real cops wouldn't make you an asshole either.

    You still wouldn't be legal for doing so. But I wouldn't say someone is an asshole just because they killed a cop.

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago

    I'd argue if a cop is trying to kill you instead of arrest you, which is their job, then yeah, killing them back isn't exactly an asshole response.

    You can be an asshole for something else in the situation, but not for the mutual killing.

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  • [–] 25 points 10 months ago (6 children)

    There are four boxes of liberty. The soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the ammo box. Use them in that order

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    Would be incredible to see protest where they show up to any ice presence fully armed. Still act as observes but also to ensure ice doesn't execute anymore Americans

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    Minnesota has "permit to carry", so you need a permit to legally have a firearm in public. Other states have banned open carry at protests. There are legal barriers.

    With everything that is happening I'm questioning my state's assault weapon ban. The feds are unhinged.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago* (1 child)

    They arrested a guy who had a concealed permit and his registered weapon on him

    I edited it because my early morning brain doesn't always come across clearly

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  • [–] 23 points 10 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 22 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    I'm from Denmark, and reading this thread is really scary. What the hell is going on over there?

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  • [–] 14 points 10 months ago*

    You excerise your rights provided to you by the constitution. Have a lawyer and video tape everything you can and fuck it do it live.

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  • [–] 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

    Honestly DylanMc6 there is nothing you can do and no answer that will be correct. Do your best.

    My advice is buy a shotgun, let them know you are armed and under no circumstances do you open your door to them. Once the door is open all hell will break loose and you will have to make some hard choices within seconds.

    Protect yourself and your family at all costs and hope you don’t have to kill anyone to do it.

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  • [+] [S] -15 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    I'm actually non-binary, and I prefer gender-neutral and feminine terms. Seriously!

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  • [–] 10 points 10 months ago

    Fight, die, shrug emoji.

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  • [–] 19 points 10 months ago (20 children)

    Use your gun.

    Don't have one? Get one.

    Can't get one? Make one.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (9 children)

    Hit me up for PDF on option 3.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    Sup, I'd like info on option 3 please

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago* (3 children)

    That would probably be the FGC-9. Or Luty's Expedient Homemade Firearms. That said, getting into a gunfight with armed federal agents seems like a quick way to commit suicide.

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Oh I'm not at all, I was just curious how poor of a idea they DIY firearm was...I once saw one that used a square tip shovel to start. I don't know if some folks could machine that shit nope from me

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    You really just need a steel tube and a hammer.

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (9 children)

    Will the left left-claiming finally accept the need for 2a?

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago (5 children)

    The left are armed. Or did you mean Democrats/Liberals?

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Liberal here. I've a real beauty of a Lee-Enfield that was used to kill fascists in the 20th century. She's ready to do so once again in the 21st if necessary.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    As to downvotes that aren't related to phrasing: do you really think that's an invalid statement? Why?

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 8 points 10 months ago

    Light em up

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  • [–] 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    Most ice agents will stand down facing a well armed militia. They're just paid goons looking to take out aggressions against those who can't fight back. Give them opposition and they'll realize the pay cheque isn't worth it.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    There isn't a well armed militia in my house.

    Even one well armed person isn't going to deter the 4-6 armed assholes they tend to send through your door.

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  • [–] 15 points 10 months ago

    I'm in rural Cheshire in the UK, so first of all I'd be very surprised.

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  • [–] 20 points 10 months ago* (4 children)

    If they are in your home and you are at gun point, all you can do is play along and pray. Anyone saying otherwise is beating their chest or stupid.

    If you were armed and responded with force, they will kill you. Period. Even if you manage to take down the initial force, you're not leaving that house alive.

    We need to do so many more things before the "they're in my house with guns" stage.

    Start by getting to know your neighbors. For real. If they are all right leaning, move. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Build mutual aid networks. They are far less likely to enter your neighbor's home if you're sheltering there, for example.

    Have contingency plans on top of contingency plans. For example: you have a best case scenario fleeing plan. Decide where you're going (ideally another country). Build out your time line, work on making it happen. Then plan less ideal ones all the way down to your "Anne Frank" plan. Who can you hide with long term?

    For the Anne Frank scenario; what are your insurgency skills? You don't have to be a fighter to be useful to your community. Learn, hone, and practice the skills that make you valuable to yourself and others.

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  • [–] 14 points 10 months ago* (3 children)

    I’m from a suburb of Minneapolis. Civil engagement is a good way to go. Recent events (shootings) got people to get our city council to figure out what they could do for gun safety. ICE hasn’t touched our wealthy suburb yet, though. There hasn’t been a city meeting since Renee Good, as well. Next city council meeting will be 🔥

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  • [–] 10 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

    What can they do for “gun safety”? I’m fairly sure the woman murdered wasn’t because of lack of gun safety on her end.

    I’ll also add, I’m Minnesotan. Also have connections to FFLs. So I’m getting a lot of the same news, we don’t really have a gun safety problem. We have laws about how to store firearms and ammunition. Shootings that have taken place aren’t for a lack of “gun safety”.

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  • [–] 14 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Any and all kind of organizing are good. Don't reinvent the wheel- find people who are already somewhat organized and go there and LISTEN. They will be less privileged than you but if you go in there humbly and say you're a dumb shit and should have listened to them way way earlier then maybe things will work out. The elephant in the room is that you never cared about their lives and you obviously need help now, but you'll be surprised how compassionate people can be. This is also a pretty good list.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago

    'Don't reinvent the wheel'

    Wait, this is horrible advice. It's the opposite of what any successful entity does. The wheel here is a problem that the authoritarians have solved long ago. If you're not reinventing it then you're cooked before you even go to the store to buy your markers and bullshit cardboard supplies. They have studied the same old civil protests for decades. They have made laws to prevent protestors from being effective. They have decades of behavioral studies and actionable propaganda that they pull out and dust off every time you even think about sharing one of those 'no kings' or 'general strike' posts. Any protest you can imagine they have solved. If you don't reinvent the wheel, you're going to look fucking stupid when you show up with another 700m people and go home having accomplished nothing except get your leadership and organizers arrested.

    That wheel needs to be reinvented. Look at the truck convoy. Hate them all you want but they did something brilliant. It was brilliant because at their top they had people who studied and knew police and authoritarian response and they found solutions to break them. After all, they were the authoritarians. They first drove through the streets across America to build awareness and hype. It's a fucking parade. People came out and cheered on over passes as they rolled through. Others joined. Then they filled cities with so many vehicles and trucks that the police had no idea how to even responsed. How do police safely weave themselves into that formation to make arrests. Then what do they do with the trucks just sitting there? The truckers made it a street party to prevent police from committing violence. They invited families down to enjoy music and hot tubs while also shutting down major parts of cities everywhere neutralizing police ability to do their job.

    The left do not have the same effort at the top. It's lacking. But they need to figure it out super fast because I promise you if you're just showing up to the streets with the same old shit then you've already lost. That wheel needs to be reinvented quick

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  • [–] 7 points 10 months ago (7 children)

    What I would like to see is local organizations, like even city councils, running programs to arm thier citizens. Ideally with free training and such as a requirement. Super awesome would be if they setup shop near protest sites to do some basic training and then sell the weapons to the people legally for like $10 or something. Essentially, legally and responsibly arm the protestors. If ICE starts shooting, they return fire. That should really give ICE pause.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 10 months ago (6 children)

    Are there any instances of that happening?

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (5 children)

    No, and if there were, it would likely give actual legal grounds for the federal government to invoke the Insurrection Act which would allow domestic deployment of the US military - not National Guard, full military. Local PD isn't doing much for the same reason.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Local PD aren't doing anything to stop this because the police forces are mainly staffed by low-IQ Republicans who, if anything, will protect ICE with the argument that ICE is federal and therefore apparently can ignore all laws.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago

    I live in a rich suburb of a big city and as far as I can tell the city actually has control of the police, the police union isn't run by a bunch of comic book villains, and the non-MAGA "good cops" actually want to work here, and do. Hop over to the big city and their police union acts as a 4th arm of government run by truly evil people.

    Local PD can't do anything because the second they do, Insurrection Act.

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  • [–] 7 points 10 months ago

    I'd love to see all kinds of resistance to this.

    If an armed militia shows up on the same street as ICE, but in greater numbers, there's a pretty good chance these imposters leave.

    I hope somebody's working on building an app for recording everything possible and centralizing that information - license plates, photos, videos.

    Perhaps homemade stingray devices that grab IMEI/IMSI numbers from agent's phones, so that it's easier to identify and link these agents between locations.

    More people following them around to report on location and activities. Report on where they stay so that protests and obnoxious deterrence can be set up so that fewer businesses are willing to service these people.

    There are so many more citizens than there are ICE agents. Doesn't seem like it takes much to overwhelm them and push them out, so long as it's coordinated.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago

    If we reached the point where they came into my house I'd be fucked no matter what, so I'd take as many as I could with me. No use in making my death meaningless.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: What about invoking the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution (which by the way gives you the right against self-incrimination)?

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago

    If the country has another federal election, heck... if the country survives past this at all, I think there's going to be a major conversation about states rights versus federal rights. What we're seeing in Minnesota is wild, bordering on something that could spark a localized civil war if people start violently standing up against this. The states should be able to come together and defeat the federal government at any point.

    The Constitution grants the federal government the right to exist, and it belongs to the people. Not any one leader. Evidently some of that power needs to be pulled back.

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago*

    Blast them with piss, fling feces in their faces, go full primate. 🐒

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago

    That is the point Mr. Bond is expected you to die. There is only luck at this point.

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  • [–] 7 points 10 months ago

    You either contribute to the United States' brain drain so that the economic situation collapses, or you use the second amendment.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

    Convert the HOA into something that actually helps their community. Turn that hate for your lawn into hate for the ICE agents who won't let you take your kids to school.

    Short term if you're talking about not dying, you're not going to stand a chance without being a full prepper.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago
    [–] 5 points 10 months ago

    Better to die fighting then to die on your knees.

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago

    That's a calculation each of us has to make personally. If you are white, a citizen, have people that rely on you, and are wealthy enough that they can fight a legal battle for you, maybe don't resist and hope for the best. If you are none of those, and you think you might get sent to a concentration camp or Africa, maybe defend yourself as best you can.

    Good luck to everyone.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago

    Stand your ground?

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    The clownvoy showed up with enough big trucks that the police could not fight out how to handle them. They also invited people to come hang out so police couldn't just tear gas and beat skulls in. The left are still protesting in ways that they protested 70 years ago. The police and military have literal books and charts to deal with it. Unless these protest evolve, they're really not doing back shit

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    Honestly, I'd take my fate into my own hands, and hope I could take a couple out before they took me out. Assuming I could get to a gun before they had me in their sights. Oragnaized and committed community defense could stop it from getting to that point, but the people participating also have to be prepared to die for their community.

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