Practical Protest Techniques

Using your body and a few simple tools to maximise your protest!

The aim of all the techniques in this briefing is to increase the length of time that you canremain at the site of an action and therefore hopefully increase the effectiveness of yourprotest, whether you are blocking the entrance to a military base, stopping a nuclear
convoy or preventing trees being cut down.

Using your body

If you have nothing else to hand then the best thing you have is your own body weight.
Sitting or lying down makes it much more difficult for security guards or police to push or
move you away from the place where you want to be. You can increase this difficulty bypassively resisting (see below). Co-operating with others can further increase youreffectiveness:
Linking arms
Sit close together and link arms with your neighbours. The more of you that can link arms
the better. Five or more people can block a single carriageway of a road. More than adozen and you can block both carriageways! Link arms at the elbow and bring yourhands in front of you. Take a tight hold of your own wrists or elbows. You are now a bit
harder to move - the police will need to break your grip before they can pick you up andcarry you away. If you're linked together in a line, the people at the end are more
vulnerable, so you might want to consider sitting in a circle.
Linking arms and legs in a circle
Five or more people can form a circle then link arms as above. If everyone's facing
inwards, the circle can be made more impregnable by jumbling up your legs as well. If
your facing inwards you won't be able to see what's happening behind you. Work
together with your group and act as each other's eyes and ears.
Passive resistancePassive resistance is an age old protest technique used to slow down your removal froma protest once you have been arrested. To some people it's an ideological statement
about not co-operating with the authorities. Essentially you simply relax your muscles sothat you go limp. Best to do this when you're already sitting or lying, though you canpassively resist from standing if you're willing to take a fall! By totally relaxing you make itmuch more difficult for the police to get a good grip of you and to carry you. Instead ofbeing walked away by one officer, you will now have to be carried which will take several
officers. Depending on how many police are at the action this will slow down the removalof you and your group considerably and they may even give up when they get tired, or if
its too far to the police van. Relaxed muscles also hurt less when they get banged andbumped.
Be aware of the difference between passively and actively resisting arrest. If you flailyour arms and try to wriggle away or try to release their grip on you, you may face acharge of 'obstructing a police officer in the execution of their duty'. Remember, it’salways your choice, so if it gets uncomfortable when they start to carry or drag you, you
can get up and walk at any time. Wear old shoes and clothing that won't ride up when
you are being carried. A rucksack can help protect your back. Some people advise thatyou break the rule about total relaxation, and keep your chin tucked tightly forward tostop your head dangling and possibly being damaged.
A word on communication
It's easy to get carried away and start shouting at police to let your compadres go,
especially when friends are under pressure and possibly in pain. Remember that you
need to be able to communicate with each other. Maybe the person being pulled out ofyour line or circle doesn't want you to hang on to their leg and play tug of war with thepolice, using them as the rope. You need to be able to hear them and respond if they ask
for support, or ask you to let go. Keep communication calm and clear and talk throughlikely scenarios and personal limits in advance, if possible.

The tools of the trade
Borrowing heavily from 'Road Raging': www.eco-action.org/rr/ch12.html

Banners
The most basic blockading prop is a banner – there's usually one around somewhere.
Wrap your circle up tight in your banner to make it harder for police and security to break
you apart. If the banner is made of a tough material so much the better. If you've thought
in advance to stitch in a few loops of nylon webbing (old seatbelt or rucksack straps)
through which you can stick hands and feet all well and good......
Seatbelt lock-ons
These are effective, low tech and cheap. They work by you
wrapping your arms around something e.g. a tree or a vehicle axle,
and then putting your wrists through loops sewn into your coatlining, under your armpits - right wrist to left armpit and vice versa.
Alternatively you can work with others and form lines or circles byplacing your arms round each other and through each others loops.
Coat loop lock-ons are inconspicuous and mean you are always
ready for action! Sew about a metre of strong, tough material - oldseat belts (available from scrapyards) or climbing tape - into yourcoat horizontally across the shoulder blades up to the armholes.
Then double back the excess and sew the ends very firmly into place to form loops. The bigger
the loops, the easier they are to find in a panicky situation. The smaller they are, the harder it isfor them to pull your hands out (although you can twist the loops round and round so theytighten around your wrists). Practice with them, especially if planning to work with others.

The tape goes around your shoulder blades directing the pressure around your backrather than on the coat. The loops are very difficult to get to, being under your garments
and under your armpits. They may rip or cut your coat to get to them, so use an old coat.
You can design them to be worn as a 'waistcoat' without stitching them into a coat. If
you're having to go through airport style security, and can't get any metal items in,seatbelt lock-ons are a lot better than nothing!
Handcuffs are good for carrying in your pocket unobtrusively and for locking onunderneath machinery, to gates etc, but are easy to cut off - most handcuffs are pretty
flimsy. Loops of strong cord or tape can often be just as effective and are cheaper.

Decent handcuffs are difficult to find. Army surplus or "sex shops" sometimes sell weak
ones. Most handcuffs can be undone with a standard key type, which security, police andbailiffs often carry. They also have a 'self release' catch that you need to saw or snap off
before you use them.
Padlocks and chains can be put on gates to cause confusion and may hold up work,
while they run around looking for the keys and then bolt croppers. Superglue or liquid
metal in their padlocks means that they have to cut off their own locks and keep buying
new ones.
Bicycle D-locks are a classic direct action tool. They fit neatly around pieces ofmachinery, gates and your neck. It is worth working in pairs when trying to lock on. The
person locking on carries the U shaped section, and loops it around both a suitable fixed
piece of machine/gate and their neck. Then their "buddy", carrying lock barrel and key,
secures the lock, and hides, or runs off with the key. If locking on to a machine, someone
must let the driver know that operating it will break someone's neck. If locking on, you
may be there for some time, so choose your point carefully. They may remove any
blankets or seats you have, and isolate you from other protesters, sometimes forming ascreen around you.
You may want to keep a spare key about your person but they may search you for it. Anysearch should be conducted by a same sex officer. If the buddy stays (with key) within
earshot, then you can be released in an emergency. It is important that anything you lockonto cannot be removed or unscrewed (like a vehicle foot plate or bumper). Gates cansometimes be removed from their hinges, so consider securing the hinge side as well as
the opening side. If there isn't an immoveable object then D-lock yourselves together
around the neck in pairs or groups and sit in the road.
If the police are not expecting you they won’t have the appropriate cutting equipment
available immediately and so you might be able to stay there for an hour or so until theycome with boltcroppers. Most contractors have their own hydraulic boltcroppers, which
cut the strongest lock in seconds. The lock gives a frightening jolt when cut, so don't lockon if you have a neck injury. Locks are most effective on targets remote from croppers.
If you are locking on under a vehicle you will need several support people tocommunicate directly with the driver to tell them you are under the lorry and that they will
kill or injure you if they try to move it. They should try to get the driver to switch theengine off. Until it's absolutely clear the vehicle's not going anywhere, it's probably best
to have one or two people standing both in front of and behind the lorry to stop it moving,
carrying a big 'Stop!' sign. Parking a vehicle in front of the lorry is even more effective as
the lorry driver is unlikely to try to drive off into a vehicle, but they have been known todrive through a line of protestors. For more on safety see Delia's Guide
www.geneticsaction.org.uk/delia.pdf.

Arm tubes
Arm tubes are best made from thick metal pipe such as old cast iron drainpipes or lampost
shafts (ask at your local scrapyard), but can also be made from plastic pipe or even cardboard.
Your tube needs to be the diameter of a clothed arm and three to four feet long. Ideally the tube
should have a strong metal pin welded across the the middle. It can slow down the process ofcutting you out of a tube if you hide the welds with paint. You also need to make a loop ofstrong cord, chain or climbing tape which fits around yourwrist and attaches to a climbing carabiner or spring clip(cheaper and available from most hardware stores).
When you put your arm in the tube, clip the carabiner
over the centre pin. If you're using a tube without a pin,you'll need to clip on to your partners caribiner.
Remember that if you lock-on with handcuffs, you won't
be able to release yourself. Check before the action how
many layers of clothing you need to wear to get a snug
but not too tight fit in the armtube.

Arm tubes can be used in lots of ways: as a chain across a road or entrance; as a bigcircle in the road or around machinery; two people can use armtubes to lock themselves
around part of a vehicle chassis or around the wheel of a lorry; or one peson can use ashorter tube or a 'V' shaped tube to wrap themselves around a digger arm, vehicle propshaft or a post. Depending on the configuration of the entrance/road you want to block,you might also want to consider using 'Y' shaped tubes for securing a chain of arm tubes
to immovable objects, like lamp posts, at either side of the road.
The police or baliffs will try to remove you if they can without actually cutting through thearm tubes. They sometimes try to push a hooked blade on a pole down the tube, to cut
any cord or tape attaching you to the tube. Having a tight fit with your clothing or padding
the arm-tube with foam, fabric etc, can hinder this, as can using chain instead of fabric toattach your clip to your wrist. They also sometimes use fibre-optic cameras to try to see
what your arm is attached with, but its easy to obscure the probe with your hand. Theymay use threats and intimidation or inflict pain using pressure points or twisting your arm
until you unlock yourself or they may use the 'lets wait until one of them needs a pee'strategy. The answer to that of course is not to drink too much before hand and to wear
incontinence pants!
If they can't persuade you to get out of the lock-on then they will probably use an angle
grinder to cut the tube near the pin until there is a hole large enough to get in to cut thetape or chain or to unclip the carabiner. Once one tube is cut then the whole line or circle
is broken.
It can get cold sitting or lying on the groud so dress for the weather and stuff bin liners
and pieces of roll mat down the back of your trousers. Take lots of snacks and drinks but
remember to have some support people who can feed you if you have both arms intubes! Be aware that your support people may be moved away or even arrested. Lock-on
at the last practicable moment as it can be uncomfortable, and go to the loo first!
Concrete lock-ons or 'dragons' can be built in houses, up trees, at the base of trees, in oilbarrels, washing machines, roads, in cars and in tunnels. They are constructed from anarm tube, with a metal crossbar at the bottom, which is then set in concrete. The
concrete mix is: 1 part cement to 3 parts sandy aggregate, it can be strengthened using
washing up liquid. Pieces of chopped-up tyres and metal mesh, knuts and bolt, bits ofscrap metal can be added to the concrete mix to hinder drilling out the concrete. Theconcrete needs time to set to its full strength so make them well in advance. Whenbuilding, plan it so that the person will be in a comfortable position as they could be therefor some time. To lock-on, put your arm down the armtube and clip your arm to the cross bar (see Arm tubes).
If they can't get your arm out, they will probably use acombination of power tools angle to cut through any
outer barrel or other metal coating and get through theconcrete. They will then need to cut through the arm
tube, again using an angle-grinder. This will take quite awhile, and will be noisy, dusty and scary. Have goggles,
ear plugs and a dust mask with you.
Other lock ons have been built by welding metal arm
tubes together in X or H formations to accommodate 4-6 people and slows down thecutting team considerably because it makes the lock-on too heavy to move and they willneed to cut through more than one armtube before they can pick you up and move you
all from the road. You could weld a very heavy object to your lock-on to make it evenharder to move - cattle-grids, steel plates, lorry wheels and dead cars have all been
used, making it difficult to cut through the tubes and difficult to simply lift you out of theway.
All the advice about support, comfort and safety from the Arm tube section applies tolock-ons
Disposable cars
You can buy scrap cars very cheaply, but you will get arrested if you're stopped whiledriving an unroadworthy, uninsured, untaxed car. You can use cars to blockade gates,roads, motorways - just about anything. You can immobilise the car by slashing the tyres,removing wheels, or turning it over. You could also try building concrete lock-ons into
the car, welding armtubes to the chassis or simply using D-locks to lock on to your own
vehicle!

Support Systems

Support roles are always valuable on an action, but when you're locked on they comeinto their own:
Safety and comfort
You need people to ensure vehicles aren't moved when you're locked on and help
mediate if you're facing aggression, as well as people to keep you fed, watered and tolight your fags when you've got both arms in arm tubes. It might be worth having
someone to liaise with the police to ensure they fully understand the safety implicationsof your action.
Communication and decision making
If you're locked on under a vehicle, or in an inward facing circle you won't know for surewhat's going on around you. You might be blocking the rear gate of a compound andhave no idea whether the activists at the front gate are still in place. Having someone toroam from lock-on to lock-on, person to person, and keep everyone up to date with
what's happening is vital. They can also facilitate decision making for the group as awhole.

Other roles
If you plan to use the media, you may need to ask someone to be the face and voice ofyour action. The police are unlikely to let cameras get too close to locked on activists, so
you may never get the chance to say your well prepared piece.
You may also want observers to help reduce the risk of aggression and to record any
arrests and ensure arrested activists get support at the police station.
Remember support people 'on the ground' are not immune from arrest. It's quite likelythat at some stage they'll all be asked (or more likely, told) to move away from the site of
the action. Since they can't offer effective support from the back of a police transit van,they may need to negotiate – another role for the 'police liaison' person?
Resources for more info on lock-ons and blockades
l Delia Smith's Basic Blockading: www.geneticsaction.org.uk/delia.pdf
l Road Raging: www.eco-action.org/rr/ch12.html
l UHC Collective NVDA toolbox
http://www.uhc-collective.org.uk/knowledge/toolbox/attack/index.htm
http://www.uhc-collective.org.uk/knowledge/toolbox/attack/tripods/tripod1.htm