Over the summer, I decided to get my legal observer (LO) training. LOs attend protests but
do not participate in them in order to watch the police and other governmental groups who
may be sent to monitor, contain, or oppose protestors, and record their actions. It’s a
program that was developed as part of the 1960’s civil rights movement to ensure the
rights of protesters were not being infringed by the government and today is run by the
National Lawyers’ Guild (NLG) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). For anyone
going to protests, they’re usually the people in lime green vests and matching hats that say
“legal observer” or “legal observer program”.
The training was held in a dusty library basement. It was overseen by three people, two of
whom were new. The third, however, has been running these training sessions for upwards
of 10 years, according to their introduction. Before the training started in earnest, the
experienced trainer addressed the room: “If there are any police officers, members of the
military, or other government employees or officials who operate in a law enforcement or
military capacity, please leave now. You are not welcome at this training.”
At first, I didn’t think too much of this. It was held in a dusty library basement after the
library was supposed to be closed. I hadn’t seen any public advertisements for this and
only heard about it when I reached out to ask how to become an LO. They did give out
nametag stickers and encouraged people to write first names and pronouns but
discouraged last names. The first instructions they gave us were about turning off
fingerprint or face ID access to your phone when at protests and making sure that LO
communications would not show a preview without unlocking your phone. It’s clear they
took privacy seriously. This step didn’t seem weird to me.
But this perception changed at the end of the training. The experienced trainer said that
this was their first time in over ten years of doing these trainings that they told police and
military personnel to leave. They work for the ACLU and said that this has been something
in discussions for some time now. Right now, this was something left up to the groups at
each location, based on your local circumstances, but they were encouraging it.
Historically, they’ve not only allowed law enforcement, but sometimes even encouraged
them to attend. It allowed them to learn more about safe interactions with protesters and
LOs and let there be an open line of communication.
I’m not yet sure about what the long-term ramifications of this are. But at least for now,
there is a clear concern that the safety of watchdogs is at particular risk. Especially given
the current threats from the Trump administration to deploy the national guard in our city,
this is something to track in the future.