Cities and towns throughout the United States are expected to see growing protests this weekend against President Donald Trump’s deportation regime and aggressive tactics to repress and intimidate protesters. After witnessing the Los Angeles Police Department’s use of tear gas, bean-bag munitions, and rubber bullets at recent protests, anyone planning to attend demonstrations this weekend likely knows they could encounter police aggression.
But not all police forces opt for the same tactics — and protesters can keep themselves safer if they know what to expect.
Different cities’ police departments are, in theory, constrained by local and state laws, though that doesn’t mean police always follow them. Take California, where legislators passed a law in 2021 prohibiting police from shooting rubber bullets and pepper spray at protesters, except in response to a “reasonable,” objective threat to life or of serious injury. The LAPD still fired rubber bullets at protesters last weekend, and there’s little sign they’ll refrain in the days to come.
While it’s impossible to predict how exactly a police department or federal force will respond to a protest, past precedent and legal limitations can help demonstrators prepare to keep themselves safe. Beyond Los Angeles, The Intercept reviewed police practices in six major cities where protests are expected this weekend, plus best practices for attendees to defend themselves.
Rubber bullets are just one type of what’s called “less-than-lethal” ammunition — a misnomer, according to legal advocates who have represented protesters severely injured by police using them. Police might also shoot bean bags or water cannons, which are similarly not supposed to kill the person they hit, but can still inflict serious injury. Several cities temporarily banned tear gas, another popular choice, after protests against police brutality in 2020. It’s banned in war, but not for police responding to public demonstrations and showed up in response to recent protests against ICE and earlier protests against the genocide in Gaza.
Other departments rely more on tactics like kettling, when police encircle protesters and keep them from dispersing, often used in concert with curfews, which give law enforcement a pretext for making arrests for people who don’t comply, or are physically barred by police from doing so.
“The key really no matter where you are or what you’re doing is situational awareness,” said Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the National Press Photographers Association. “When you start to see officers on bikes encircling you, you need to have probably thought of this before, but certainly at that point, look for a place to exit.”
Osterreicher is also a uniform reserve sheriff’s deputy in Erie County, New York. He has trained police departments around the country in how to uphold constitutional rights, and his trainings have helped shape guidelines for how police should interact with the press. But in the event that police don’t follow those guidelines, Osterreicher said, press and protesters need to know how to protect themselves.
“I do understand the challenges of law enforcement, but I understand also that I took an oath to uphold the Constitution. The last time I looked, the First Amendment was still part of the Bill of rights,” he said. “So it’s really important that police understand you know what they should and shouldn’t be doing.”
Knowing your rights is essential, Osterreicher said. But knowledge won’t keep tear gas out of your eyes. For that, protest attendees should have the right protective gear — and know how and when to use it.
Protective Equipment
If you have a gas mask, you need to be sure you know how it works, how to put it on, and that it fits properly. “If it’s not fitting properly, it’s going to be worse getting gas inside the mask than not having a mask at all,” Osterreicher said. If you’re using eye goggles, be sure they meet safety standards and won’t shatter if police hit them.
Other gear, like ballistic helmets, can protect from projectiles — but eye-catching combat gear can cut both ways. Protest attendees should be aware of how they may be perceived by police. A gas mask or a combat helmet may protect you — but it could also make you a target, Osterreicher said.
Journalists in particular should find ways to distinguish themselves from other protesters, he added, like not wearing all black. “You really need to figure out a way to be safe, but distinguish yourself,” Osterreicher said.
To get the best sense of how to prepare, we took a look at precedents for police repression tactics across the country.
Chicago
Chicago Police have been notorious for using aggressive tactics to police protests for decades, going back to the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Ahead of the 2024 DNC, as protesters objecting to the United States’ arming Israel to commit genocide in Gaza prepared to fill the streets, Chicago’s inspector general warned that the police department’s crowd-control tactics like kettling, use of pepper spray, and general lack of knowledge of First Amendment rights could cause “escalating tensions” and violations of protesters’ constitutional rights.
“Such use of these tactics could also escalate police-crowd tensions. Indiscriminate use of containment tactics could trap both persons conducting crimes along with peaceful protestors, instigating resistant behavior from individuals who might have otherwise cooperated with police instructions,” the inspector general’s report noted. Police arrested more than 70 people at a demonstration outside of the Israeli Consulate during the convention, including several journalists.
Philadelphia
Police in Philadelphia tend to be quick to attack protesters one-on-one. Videos of Philadelphia Police pushing protesters to the ground and beating them with batons this week at anti-ICE protests went viral. Another video showed a police officer kneeling on the neck of a protester wearing a keffiyeh — a tactic prohibited in the city after 2020 protests. Police also reportedly threw bikes at protesters on Tuesday. Philadelphia police have also historically used flash-bang grenades, tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and bean-bag rounds to disperse crowds.
With more protests expected this weekend, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said the police would maintain public safety and order during protests. District Attorney Larry Krasner said protesters would be protected but that those who violated the law would face consequences.
New York City
The New York City Police department settled a lawsuit in 2023 to reform protest tactics after its response to 2020 protests against police brutality. The settlement set up a system to reform the department’s protest response by reducing the number of officers sent to respond to protests, prioritizing deescalation, and banning the practice of kettling. The settlement also provided a pathway to enforce limits on the use of pepper spray, batons, and bicycle strikes that the department had not previously followed.
That means those tactics should — in theory — be less prevalent in New York. The NYPD is less likely to use tear gas against protesters than police in many other major cities, but protest attendees should still be aware of their surroundings and maintain an exit plan for any situation. NYPD officers, too, are known for their long history of brutalizing protesters and using kettling tactics to trap demonstrators. A new bill introduced in March would bar the NYPD from deploying the militarized Strategic Response Group to protests and ban or restrict tactics including kettling, tear gas, pepper spray, and acoustic weapons — but it hasn’t been passed so far.
Seattle
The Seattle Police Department has been known to use pepper spray and tear gas against protesters. They have also used long-range acoustic devices to communicate orders to crowds. But since protests in 2020, the use of tear gas has been effectively banned. Police are only supposed to use pepper spray or balls if an individual poses a threat, and it must be reported to a supervisor.
This week, Seattle’s chief of police said he expected to be arrested because he supports protesters’ and residents’ First Amendment rights.
Atlanta
Atlanta Police officers demonstrated a unique form of violence and aggression against protesters in their response to protests against Cop City, an 85-acre police training complex for which the city of Atlanta destroyed large swaths of its forest. As demonstrators objected to the destruction in 2023, police carried out a multi-agency raid and killed Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán, shooting him at least 57 times. Atlanta Police also attacked protesters with garden tools after they tried to plant trees.
Police in Altanta used tear gas against protesters during campus protests against the genocide in Gaza last year. The Atlanta Police Department said that while other responding agencies used rubber bullets, their officers did not, though it did confirm the use of chemical irritants. Atlanta police have said they do not train officers in kettling, though they’ve been accused of kettling protesters in past demonstrations.
Houston
During 2020 protests, Houston’s police chief said the department would avoid using tear gas or rubber bullets on protesters, and the city was one of the few to not have a curfew imposed as protests began— although the National Guard was deployed to the city in 2020. Houston was the only major city in Texas where police did not use rubber bullets or tear gas against protesters in 2020 — but they did use pepper spray, and one officer on horseback trampled a protester. Officers are also supposed to get permission from the chief to use tear gas or rubber bullets.
Last year, Houston Mayor John Whitmire called on police to crack down on protesters against the genocide in Gaza who demonstrated outside of his house. Whitmire has rejected federal aid to manage protests this weekend and applauded organizers for working with Houston Police to prepare. But Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott was the first governor to request National Guard assistance in quelling the recent anti-ICE protests, deploying the troops throughout Texas on Thursday. Police responding to protests this week in Austin and Dallas used tear gas and pepper spray against demonstrators.
What About the Feds?
The deployment of federal troops in U.S. cities has shocked observers and drawn fears of martial law — but in many cases, it’s local police departments that have the most prominent role in repressing protests. Still, it’s important to know if federal agents in your city will appear at protests alongside police this weekend.
Several other major cities anticipating protests this weekend have received notice that federal agents are being deployed. ICE is also reportedly planning to deploy teams in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, and Northern Virginia ahead of expected protests.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
