Reichstag fire.
Welcome to the brave new world of Soviet-style agitprop.
I joined twitter and really tried to like/use it. It lasted about two weeks and I just abandoned the account.
Someone as the white hut planted it there to give them reason to shut down the protest.
Look for this tactic to be used more in the future.
Welcome to the police state.
Before everyone gets all excited, this happens every so often. Happened to us at our D.C. Chapter Clinton freeps at the White House. No biggie. The Secret Service clears the area, clears the package and then everything goes back to normal.
Okay, since these are the dirty tricks they play by, the best way to fight back is by being prepared.
In this case, along with the protesters needs to be one or more individuals tasked to be “security”.
1) ID everyone in the protest, not with an ID check, but by making sure that everyone has someone to vouch for them. This will identify any ‘agent provocateurs’ sent to infiltrate for all sorts of nefarious reasons. If any are identified, several people should be asked to take their picture, discreetly.
2) Photograph your surroundings, just to be aware that there are no suspicious packages—and if any show up, you will quickly spot who leaves it and take pictures of them.
3) Have one or more people to act as “pickets”, who are not part of the protest, but are watching those who are watching (and photographing) the protest. These are different from those who quietly hang out with counter-protesters to make sure they aren’t planning any violent actions.
4) One of the most important jobs of security is to deal with potentially violent people who approach the protest. It is their job to move to a position between them and the rest of the protest. Such scum often want to run up to a protest and punch some grandmother before running away, and to find themselves facing a large and serious man puts a crimp in their plan.
There was a video within the last several months in which a meeting held in a congressional hearing room, scheduled by a conservative representative, was broken up by the capital hill police in the interest of public safety. I don’t remember enough about that situation to google it, but perhaps someone else does.