Posts Tagged ‘protest’

Tips for conservatives covering leftist protests

Posted: September 1, 2024 by John Ruberry in blogs, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

Last month the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago at the United Center.

I did some photography work for a right-of-center publication. There’s no need to mention which one.

Left-wing radicals are trained to spot “infiltrators” among within their protests. To get the best coverage, it’s important to blend in. It’s also wise to do so in terms of personal safety.

During the DNC protests–which were mostly centered around Union Park, which is roughly halfway between the UC and downtown Chicago–I witnessed three fights, but no one seemed to get injured in them.

Here are some tips regarding not only in covering protests. but also, how not to get spotted, to use a favorite put-down of the leftists, as a “counterrevolutionary.”

For starters, when you cover protests, whether the organizers have a rally permit or not, these gatherings often turn into marches. Wear comfortable shoes, dress for the weather, and depending on the conditions outdoors, have bottled water and sunscreen available. If you can’t remain on your feet for several hours, or if you don’t feel confident walking a few miles, then covering rallies is not for you.

And because these events can last several hours, bring light snacks.

Blending in:

The DNC protests were largely Hamas pep rallies—the attendees, politically speaking, for the most part, were to the left of Kamala Harris. Obviously, I left my Donald Trump button at home.

At these rallies—most credible sources said that about 3,500 protesters attended the big ones–often there are people handing out buttons and protest signs. Don’t sell yourself out. I picked out a “thought criminal” button and a “give peace a chance sign.” I support peace under the right conditions and as a Republican living in Illinois, that makes me a thought criminal.

And wear a hat with the logo of a local sports team. Once again, you want to blend it.

Don’t go alone. Okay, a couple of days last month, I broke that rule, but having someone watch your back is sound advice on most occasions in Chicago.

Have a cover story. Often, I’m asked at these protests, “Why are you here and who are you working for?” I always reply, truthfully, that I am a free-lance photographer and an amateur historian. Have a pseudonym already picked out, because someone may ask for your name. This is not the time for a Ralph Kramden “hummina-hummina-hummina” moment.

Ask permission to take someone’s photograph or to videotape them. There are several reasons. The first one is simply because it’s the polite thing to do. Secondly, you’ll capture much better images. Finally, it decreases the odds of you being identified as a provocateur.

What to do if spotted? I’ve only been outed once at a leftist protest, after someone noticed me speaking to a well-known conservative videographer. But because at that time the scene was chaotic–hooligans were throwing water bottles at police officers–the radicals quickly lost interest in me. If that attack on the cops hadn’t broken out, I would have left for home.

Live to document another day.

You don’t want to make the same mistake as two other videographers I know, who years ago not only refused to blend in at a protest, but when identified–which didn’t take long–they suffered the indignity of having their $1,000 video camera snatched from them. The leftists decided to play keep-away and catch with their equipment, which of course was quickly dropped on a sidewalk. Then the radicals stomped on the video camera.

Keep calm and remain strong. Imagine yourself as a glacier–sturdy and slow moving–with such a permanence that people forget you are there.

If you have your own tips on not getting noticed at left-wing protests, drop them in the comments section.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

Update (DTG) : Instalanche! Thanks Glenn (Actually Sarah Hoyt) John is on a roll! I always found that my doctor who scarf and hat make people assume I’m a leftist so all I had to do is be quiet and listen and I could cover any event without grief. It doesn’t take long for a leftist to pontificate if you just wait.

Nothing like living under constantly changing rules

Posted: January 15, 2011 by datechguy in internet/free speech, media
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In his examiner column today Glenn Reynolds (tomorrow’s guest BTW) talks about how the rules concerning “patriotic dissent” apparently change as desired by the holders of the meme:

“Protest is patriotic!” “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism!”
These battle-cries were heard often, in a simpler America of long ago — that is, before last November. Back then, protests — even if they were organized by the usual leftist apparatchik-groups like ANSWER or ACORN — were seen – at least in the media – as proof of popular discontent.

Yes we remember those halcyon days of yesteryear, when one could call for the murder of a president and yet simply be expressing dissent, exercising the rights guaranteed under the constitution. Who cares if some group might have fronted it. However now that the tea party has become a source of such protest…

Funny how fast the worm — or maybe it’s the pitchfork — has turned. Now that we’re seeing genuine expressions of populist discontent, not put together by establishment packagers on behalf of an Officially Sanctioned Aggrieved Group, we’re suddenly hearing complaints of “mob rule” and demands for civility.

Civility is fine, but those who demand it should show it. The Obama administration — and its corps of willing supporters in the press and the punditry — has set the tone, and they are now in a poor position to complain.

That’s why a “living breathing Constitution” is in my opinion BS. That allows people to decide it says what they want it to say rather than what it actually says (a contract).

I guarantee we will be talking about this tomorrow.

A series of videos of the actual March in Boston and my take on it

Posted: May 2, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, local stuff, opinion/news, short films/interviews, special events
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I’ll be continuing to put up the various interviews but for now we have a series of short clips of the lead up to and the actual march in question with my commentary and some photo links.

First there was the revving up of the crowd:

Before anything else I want to say the two speakers there gave me access to the Gazebo to take some shots and were extremely polite to me. I may disagree with them but they get full marks on that. Here is a pan of the crowd:

It was pretty small at that point but small contingents kept showing up during the day, here is the second to last that came:

By the time the final batch came the total was about 300 or maybe a bit under. Here is the second Pan after the contingents showed up. It still added up to maybe 3% of the Tea Party crowd.

In a few minutes they were about to Watch, I checked with the Police and asked if I could walk ahead and take pictures, they smiled saying it was a free country. So they started to line up to do their march through the streets:

The Crowd started down the street with the police clearing the way. The public watched with some amusement and some bemusement as they continued on.

They basically marched a block down, two or three blocks over then back up toward city hall. Their cry was “education not deportation”. I would highly recommend education particularly on the subject of economics which was sadly lacking in this group. I would suggest for that they begin with Don Boudreaux, a bit of history perhaps, I would recommend Anne Applebaum’s book Gulag to reacquaint people with all the good that Che and socialism did for people and perhaps some current events with Byron York as none of these people seem to be actually have read it. Maybe even a lesson in English like the difference between “immigration” and “illegal immigration” which the entire march seemed to try to blur rather dishonestly.

The March then stopped near city hall where the Big Apple Circus was in town. It gave me a chance to show the entire crowd.

It was not the brightest idea of the marchers to stop in front of a large tent with the word Circus on it where one could take pictures. From there they marched by the graveyard where James Otis, Sam Adams and the dead from the Boston Massacre are buried. That would have been the place to stop and talk but they didn’t think of that.

The Democrats on the Sunday shows like Al Sharpton who said: “Nobody is talking about Open borders” certainly wasn’t talking about this rally nor was Katrina Vanden Heuvel who lionized these rallies as significant while minimizing the tea party rallies that not only in Boston drew 33x more people but did so on a Wednesday rather than on a weekend. It was blatantly dishonest. And I’m sure they would have loved some of the things said about the military in front of the recruiting center where it ended.

The truth is this march and movement has absolutely no chance of convincing average Americans of anything if their ideas are presented unfiltered. A great example of this was Diane a black woman who was working one of the two jobs she had worked for the last 20 years. She was unimpressed with the march, the marchers and their cause. Media outlets should be ashamed of themselves for pretending they are something they are not.

Update: Apparently the low Boston turnout wasn’t unique.

Update 2: Smitty provides links to other coverage in LA and NY and Charlotte NC.

Just back from the immigration rallies in Boston…

Posted: May 1, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, opinion/news, special events
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…well actually I just finished watching the new Doctor Who by Proxy after I got home from the immigration rallies and let me tell you it was a lot more interesting than the rally.

Several things about it:

The crowd came in several groups. When I got there it was about 10 min of 12 and there were about 150 people there. The primary theme was Marxism/socialism.

Three distinct waves showed up later that brought the totals up to about 300 people.

There was an organized group of anarchists which seems to be an contradiction in terms.

The people there were very polite and the people in charge let me take shots from a few angles behind the stage, they never showed me anything but courtesy.

One bit of advice for people If you are going to stop during your march through the streets don’t give speeches in front of a giant tent that say Circus

My photos follow:

My Traditional short interviews will follow during the day.

Update: At Washington Monthly they ask this question:

Attendance at May 1 events have varied in recent years, but it was just a few years ago when hundreds of thousands of people participated in enormous events demanding change to the immigration status quo. Whether today’s events generate those kinds of crowds remains to be seen.

Well here is the answer, On a beautiful Wednesday two weeks ago 10,000 people showed up on the Boston common at the tea party rallies.

Today on a beautiful Saturday afternoon a whole 300 people showed up. In fact is was a small enough crowed that I was able to actually COUNT them. You tell me which rally was more newsworthy.

I think with all due respect Mr. Breen the question isn’t how Fox will report it. The question is will the MSM inflate the numbers and its importance and suggest it is supported by more people than it actually is.

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