Civil Unrest Part 2

In my last blog, I talked about how to survive when you were caught in a situation involving civil unrest e.g. protests, demonstrations, riots etc. This blog article will expand on some of the ideas that were introduced, as well as looking at such incidents from a different perspective, such as what to do if you are in a vehicle, or trapped in a building etc.

Most people feel safe when they are in a car or similar vehicle, however if you are caught in a traffic pile up, during a protest or demonstration, your car may end up being more of a trap, than a protective coating/layer between you and those around you. An important thing to bear in mind is that because you are in your car, you are not part of the demonstration, which means by default you are not part of the group; and if you aren’t part of the group, you represent opposition to it, and its goals. It doesn’t matter whether you are a sympathizer or an activist, if you are not marching, demonstrating or protesting etc. you are adopting a position of opposition. At the lowest end of the spectrum, protestors may slap or hit your car, because of part of the group moving around you they are empowered to do so, and at the higher end they may decide to tip your car over in order to construct a barrier/obstacle between them, and the police/security forces. It is important to be able to judge, where on the spectrum, the protestors are. As annoying as it may be, to have members of a protest hit and slam your car, your bodywork will take it, and reacting to these low level acts of aggression, will mean that you draw the attention of the entire crowd/group towards you. If things have moved on and the crowd is acting as a group, defending/protecting its members it is probably time to leave the vehicle, as it will be used to protect/advance the group/crowd’s goal regardless of the state of the individuals in the car or van.

If your car is not trapped by other vehicles and can move, in most scenarios you should attempt to do so – when stationary try to keep the rear tires of the car in front of you in sight, along with a bit of the road, this should allow you to move around this car if necessary. Try to find out, via social media etc. if there is a possible route that will allow you to exit the situation. If your car is surrounded by people who are starting to act violently towards you, start driving off very slowly, at first simply redirecting them out of the way, and then moving/pushing them out of the way. Your first instinct may be to drive/force your way through as quickly as possible, however this is likely to create casualties, possibly including peaceful protestors who were not trying to cause you harm, as well as uniting the crowd against you. It doesn’t take much to cause a crowd to swarm over a vehicle, and bring it to a stop. If you haven’t enough knowledge and “intelligence” to ensure your full escape/exit, it may be better to stay still with your car, or if things seem to be changing for the worse, exit your vehicle before it becomes a metal trap for you.

It goes without saying that if you know that the city you are in is going through a period of civil unrest, driving with a full tank of gas, the central locking on, and having a can of OC/CS Spray at hand (if you need to leave your vehicle and disperse into the crowd, pepper spray is a good way to deal with any protestors who may try to harm you as you are exiting/debussing your vehicle, and you don’t need as much room to spray someone as you would to clear a path with a baton or stick), are all good safety precautions to take – in fact, they are worth following as a personal safety routine e.g. never drive your car, with less than half a tank of gas/petrol. Keep a phone charger in your car. If your phone dies, you will have lost a valuable source of information that would allow you to keep updated with what’s going on.

It may be that rather than being in a car, you are in a building, either residential or business. As a general rule of thumb it is usually safer to stay inside, than try and escape through an angry mob and police lines. It is easy to panic and feel the need to simply get away, as fast and as far as you can, however the reality of navigating through an angry mob, and getting past a police line, is a fairly tough proposition, and not one to be taken lightly – if your building is being fire bombed and set alight, obviously evacuation is necessary, however it is often safer to sit tight, than exit into the fray. If you find yourself in a building in a location where a riot or protest is occurring, resist the temptation to look out of the windows. If protestors are smashing windows, and throwing bricks, you don’t want to put yourself in the line of fire. Also you don’t want to become a target of interest for protestor’s missiles.

If you are in an office block, it may be safer to move from the ground or first floors, to those of the third or fourth – many looters are both lazy, and want to be in and out of a building in the shortest possible time grabbing whatever they can find/lay their hands on. Few will want to risk becoming “trapped” in the building by security forces, by venturing higher. It is always worth staying on a floor within reach of a fire truck ladder, in case your building gets set ablaze – it is also as a general safety precaution worth knowing where the fire exits are, in case you need to evacuate.

If you are trapped in your home, and you are able to move to an upper floor, then defending a staircase from protestors who want to get up to you is an easier proposition than trying to block all ground floor doors, windows and other entry/access points. As a matter of course you should have a shotgun for home defense, and in this instance it can be used to prevent people coming up the stairs to you and your family – it should be loaded first with non-lethal, and then lethal ammunition, so that you can fire shots that will disrupt and deter an assailant before having to potentially kill them; you don’t want the area around your stair well to resemble a martyr’s graveyard unless absolutely necessary, as this could end up turning the attention of the protestors towards you. However If necessary it is worth showing protestors the line that they have crossed, when dealing with you – in the LA Riots of 1992, Korean shopkeepers effectively prevented looting of their premises, and the danger to their lives (after the police and security forces gave up protecting their locations), by demonstrating their willingness to use lethal force.      

There comes a time when neither your car, and the building you are in offer you any protection, and may end up becoming a trap, and at this point you must be prepared to evacuate, however until this moment arises, it is usually better to stay put than attempt to navigate and deal with the crowd. At the end of the day, the situation determines the solution you should choose, and the information provided in this article is aimed at helping you decide upon a course of action rather than prescribing one.