We had a situation evolve at my small local no kings. After an hour chilling, a trump supporter pulled up in a truck, unloaded a giant MAGA flag and planted himself right in the middle of the group. He was non violent, said very little, and mostly just stood there.
The supervising police would not remove him, and told us he had "the same right to be there that we have".
Obviously we were all quite uncomfortable having this shit flag overshadowing us, but no one was sure what could be done about it, so we sucked it up and continued on as if he wasn't there.
How would you have handled this situation? Is there anytime that can be done in the future to prevent this?
Ps Fuck trump and his cult.
Lol we had another that just passed through like that wearing a maga hat and carrying an american flag, but they didn't stick around long and no one really minded because I mean, hat was subtle and if you wanna be counted on the line, go for it... Didn't feel like trying to hijack the protest. Flag guy was much more tenacious.
That thing is massive. How was the flag standing? Stabbed into the ground? A heavy steel base?
Staked into the ground, yes
I mean, I really don't know much about giant flags. But if possible, it wouldn't be violence or destruction of property to just.... push it over.
Something that top heavy planted by hand couldn't possibly stand much additional force, could it? I don't know how fast your local water table drains, but maybe even just pour a gallon or two of water into the soil at the base? Bonus if he has to stand in mud now.
Otherwise, a protest is a celebration of your rights. Maybe make a big party of it. If everyone's having a good time, and water balloons or silly string start flying everywhere, it's on him if he insists on standing in the middle. People like that generally can't tolerate feeling silly. They want to fight, not play.
Ah, to clarify he's two hands holding it, just stabbed into the ground for further leverage. But - the ground was soft from rain. It probably would go down.. Hm.
Silly string sounds hilarious, this could be effective.