Build Community
Connect locally
We are in this together. Stay connected to family, friends, and neighbors. Share how you’re doing, ask how they’re coping, and support one another through the uncertainty. Check in with your neighbors. Start a neighborhood contact list. Plug into local mutual aid networks.
Connect with people outside of MN
Check in with your friends outside of the state and the country. Let them know you're safe and what's going on. Answer their questions.
Boost morale
Acknowledge what is happening in your daily interactions (where it feels safe) like conversations with medical professionals, store clerks, co-workers, etc. This can be as simple as asking “How are you holding up?”
Show gratitude
Thank the people who are helping, such as admins, organizers, and other volunteers working to care for families affected by the occupation.
Show support
Connect with and show love for people you know who are afraid to leave home, or those who’ve been injured in protest, and/or are managing trauma from tear gas, police violence, physical, and emotional violence. Follow up with them regularly if they’re interested. Not everyone will want regular check-ins, so ask first.
Support Vulnerable Neighbors
Donate to mutual aid organizations who are providing groceries, rent and child care support.
If you don't feel safe being an up-close observer and something happens on your street or near you, you can set off your car alarm and record from inside your home or at a distance.
Report incident online:
State Attorney General: Federal Action Reporting Form
ACLU: Unlawful Conduct Form
MonarcaMN: info@monarcamn.org
Report incident by phone:
COPAL MN at 612-255-3112. (Please do not call Unidos MN whose phone lines are overwhelmed.)
When documenting activity, remember S.A.L.U.T.E. to include this information if possible:
S – Size
How many people and/or vehicles are present?
A – Activity
What specifically are they doing?
L – Location
Address, nearby cross streets, or landmarks
U – Uniform
What are they wearing or what identification do they have?
T – Time
Date and time observed
E – Equipment
What weapons or devices are they carrying?
Support Local Businesses
Support your local businesses, especially those who are being targeted or who are supporting the community in this moment. You can support them from home by leaving 5-star reviews online, buying gift cards, and recommending them to family and friends.
Support Rapid Responders, Legal Observers, and Protesters
Print and/or help distribute materials: 3D-printed whistles and eyewash bottles, zines, info cards, flyers, protest art, etc. for items that need to be distributed, consider checking in with a local Buy Nothing group.
Offer to be an emergency contact. Get the person’s full name and date of birth, medical information (if they feel comfortable sharing), along with the contact info for anyone they want you to alert should they be detained or hurt. Don’t store this info digitally. Write the details down.
Make a plan for folks doing patrolling and/or observing work.
Be a grounding or self-care buddy for people attending marches or rallies. Check in with them before they leave for the march. Help them create a post-march recovery plan.
Set up check-in schedules and plans for what to do if your friends don’t contact you or make it home when expected.
Offer to order food delivery, make food to be picked up, or pay for groceries to help people recuperate post-event.
Offer your home as a safe location for bathroom/food/warm-up breaks or when evacuating sketchy situations.
Volunteer to provide IT support, answer phones, do data entry, upload, organize, and archive documentation for ICE patrollers and legal observers.
Join your local Signal group to help dispatch observers or provide other support.
Coordinate or provide childcare for protestors and others helping protect our neighbors.
Share the Constitutional Observers Handbook with folks doing that work.