How To Stay Safe at Protests

Posted on March 26, 2025 by nonsequiteuse

I tweeted a thread back in 2020 with my tips on staying safe at a protest, but want to replicate and update it now that we are living in 2025. I’m offering a mix of practical and technical. None of what I’m writing should be considered legal advice.

This advice is designed for people attending, not those organizing, although the advice certainly applies across the board. Organizers need to attend to some protest-wide safety issues as well that go deeper.

Before The Protest

The practical: Be hydrated and prepare for the weather. I’m in Texas so generally weather means heat and sun. Treat this like marathon prep and start upping your fluid a few days ahead. Apply sunscreen, wear a wide-brimmed hat. Use a soft water bottle (a small hydration backpack can work well) and consider taking snacks that don’t melt. Charge your phone.

If there are medications you need, take a couple of doses and label what they are / how you take them if you don’t take them in a prescription bottle.

Since you don’t want anyone unlocking your cell phone to find an emergency contact, and since batteries die, consider carrying an “in case of emergency / medical ID” note inside a ziplock back or laminated with packing tape or even – hey now – a lamination pouch. If you pin that inside your backpack or belt bag, someone can find it in a pinch.

Wear shoes that don’t give you blisters and that you can walk quickly/run in, but also take bandaids in case you do get blisters. Do not wear baggy clothes or jewelry that someone could grab on purpose or by accident. If you are concerned about surveillance, consider that anything you wear can be used to identify you. This is not the time for wearing your work uniform unless that is part of the reason you are protesting and message you are sending.

The logistical: Know where to park if you’re taking your car. If you’re going with friends, have a meet-up point away from the protest where you agree to meet if circumstances change. Tell someone where you are going and that you’ll check in with them when you get home safely.

Look at the map of where the protest will be held. If you’re not familiar with the area, spend some time on Google maps looking at street views or even drive over to see it. Identify areas you might want to avoid, like alleys or narrow passageways. Don’t park so close to the action that you won’t be able to get out if things go sideways and you need to leave.

I like to arrive a bit early and walk around to get familiar not just with an area, but with how the staging is going. Law enforcement is likely arriving early, too, so you can see how they are preparing and understand the types of preparations they are putting in place.

The philosophical: Every protest has a goal or two, which could be anything from encouraging a group of elected officials to take a certain action or allowing a community to express outrage or grief over an incident. You, too, need to have a goal so that you understand the parameters of what you want to accomplish and what you are willing to do during the protest.

If you want to commit nonviolent civil disobedience during a protest, you need to do a good deal of organizing ahead of time and understand the complete ramifications of an arrest. I won’t go into detail here, because you can search the web for more information about civil disobedience and arrest actions, but to emphasize how serious it is that you plan in advance, consider:

Getting arrested on federal property will yield federal charges. But for any arrest, charges and even conviction are a possibility, and there are serious and lifelong consequences, particularly for felony arrests. You could, in some states, lose the right to vote, lose professional licensure, have a hard time getting jobs or finding housing, and if you are not a citizen (and let’s be real, in 2025 America, if you cannot immediately and conclusively prove you are a citizen), the risks can be even greater.

Civil disobedience is best practiced in groups with lots of planning and outside support. Don’t get swept up in the moment and do something that could put you in danger or change your life for good.

But even before you reach the civil disobedience threshold, consider how far you want to go. This is like everything else in life. If the vibe feels off to you, decide in advance that you will trust your gut and leave. If someone seems unsafe to be around, be prepared to walk away.

At the Protest

Here’s the short list, and then I’ll go into painful detail:

  • Commit to nonviolence.
  • Use the buddy system.
    • Don’t carry anything that can be construed by police as a weapon. No umbrellas, flagpoles, metal water bottles, 12-inch hair pins.
    • It should go without saying but this is Texas in 2025 so no actual weapons, no matter what you may be licensed to carry.
  • Keep your head on a swivel and know where you are and who is around you at all times.
  • Don’t make decisions that can affect someone else’s safety or jeopardize anyone else’s commitment to nonviolence. Don’t make a decision that might cause another person to be trampled, arrested, or shot.
  • Avoid interacting with law enforcement unless absolutely necessary.
  • De-escalate and be a calming presence.
  • Respect protest organizers’ goals and their instructions on safety.
  • Most people are good, some are not, and it isn’t always obvious who is who, so trust but verify.
  • Get home safely. It is always OK to walk away.

Signs, Banners, Flags

The most important point here is that you should not use anything to carry, hoist, or display your sign / banner / flag that the police could claim is a weapon and use as justification either to arrest you or physically assault you.

This is deadly serious. At the last rally I attended, there were vendors selling flags on little sticks, those dowels you can easily snap in half with one hand. To a police officer intent upon causing you problems, even a 1/4 inch diameter dowel can be construed as a weapon. And to be fair, even a tiny stick can be used to put an eye out, intentionally or on accident.

If you must take a sign or banner, consider using cardboard tubes from wrapping paper to give you some height.

If you intend to hang a banner, and want to weight the bottom so that it hangs, do not use rocks or anything solid. Use sand or have grommets in the lower corners you can tie down. Long zip ties work faster than rope for attaching things and require just a reinforced slit not a huge grommet.

This might make me sound paranoid, but then again, this post is about being aware, so consider checking your ego. If you make a great sign, lots of people will ask for photos, or will just take them. So remember that you have to go to work the next day, or wherever else, and plan accordingly. Don’t be afraid to ask that someone not include your face if you don’t want to be identified.

And don’t get lulled into conversation with someone you don’t know because they start to compliment your sign. 99 times out of 100, it is another protester who is bored / excited / eager to talk with someone who shares their views. But I anticipate lots of undercover law enforcement, or people who have deputized themselves to be the same, will be showing up at protests in these times. You don’t know why they might be pumping you for information, and flattering your sign-making skills is a great way to get you to let your guard down.

Photographs & Filming

I wrote a whole ‘nother blog post about this, so read it here. It’ll open in a new tab. The highlights:

  • Consider that your photos posted publicly can be used against you or others. They can get you (or someone else) in trouble, fired, or targeted for doxxing. And they can be manipulated to create a false narrative.
  • Don’t film faces, and definitely don’t film people’s kids.
  • If you are filming or photographing as part of doing legal observing and documentation in case of lawsuits, take precautions and definitely read my other blog post on how to film.
  • It isn’t just the photos, but the meta-data in the photos that can get you in trouble. Learn how to strip it out.

The fact is, you need to have a high level of situational awareness at a protest, so best to keep your phone or camera in your pocket.

Scan This, Sign This

We are getting pretty comfortable scanning QR codes to get information. But just because someone says ‘scan this to get to our page,’ you don’t have to. You can ask for the name of the website and navigate to it that way. Why risk linking to malware?

Similarly, just because someone has a clipboard and a cool t-shirt, think twice before adding your name and email to a list. If the protest is being organized by Group X, and there’s a table with a Group X tablecloth and signage and people in Group X t-shirts, you can probably sign up at that table. But random clipboard people? Ask if they can give you the info to go to their website later. Better safe than sorry.

People You’ll Encounter & What They Are Doing / Not Doing

Protest organizers: These are the people who pulled the permits, selected speakers, and created the message and goals. They have a plan and in general, you should either follow their plan or leave.

Law enforcement: They are there to do a job but they are not in charge unless they perceive that laws are being broken or public safety is at risk. Don’t chitchat with them. Give them space. Know that some may have less experience protesting or less maturity in the face of rising tensions than you do.

Do not provoke them, because maybe you’re tough and you can take it, but you don’t know who else they might go after and you don’t get to make that call for another person.

It is OK to follow their instructions if they are benign, like a reminder to stay on a sidewalk or that a certain area is private property.

If a protest is big enough, there may well be plainclothes officers in the thick of things. Sometimes they are obvious, but not always. They also have surveillance tools like drones and technology that can tweak the phone signal. So assume law enforcement is watching and behave accordingly.

Legal Observers: These are people documenting what is happening as it happens to gather evidence should it be necessary to defend actions or people in court later. They are not necessarily lawyers, and they are definitely not there to give you legal advice or to talk to law enforcement on your behalf. By design, they are taking a step back from the action, so do not try to rope them in.

Media: They have a right to be there, and will identify themselves. You have a right not to talk to them. They will respect that. Do not speak on behalf of anyone other than yourself unless you have consulted organizers in advance and are authorized to speak on behalf of the protest itself.

Professional journalists aren’t trying to trap or trick you. You can ask them to explain what it means to be on the record compared to on background or anonymous, and they will explain.

Medics: Like legal observers, they are ideally stepping back from the action to monitor the situation and help keep people safe. They are often actual medical professionals, like EMTs or RNs, but they may simply be calm people with a little first aid training and a big bag of supplies. They are there to help. Do everything you can to make sure they go home at the end bored. You don’t want them busy.

Message Hijackers & Provocateurs: There are people with sincerely held beliefs who show up at any and every protest because they truly believe that their issue is the core issue / their solution is the core solution / their view is the only real, true, and beautiful one. They are sometimes super-annoying and it is safe to ignore them, not accept their literature, and not get drawn into a long conversation that takes your attention away from your surroundings and the larger protest.

Then, there are actual provocateurs. These are people who either in an organized fashion (maybe with law enforcement’s input) or as individuals who like to monkeywrench will try to pull you across whatever line you might not want to cross. If someone slides up next to you and says hey, I saw a pile of bricks around the corner, a few of us are going to go bring some over here, unless you are eagerly trying to get arrested, ignore them and walk away. No telling what their agenda is but it is NOT yours, so don’t lend your credibility, time, or body to it.

There are also provocateurs who pose as journalists and bloggers who play to your ego to get you to say things they can twist and use against you or the cause. If someone identifies themself as a member of the media, ask what outlet, and if you are not familiar with it, check it out before talking to them. And search for Project Veritas if you wonder just how nasty someone can get.

Be a Good Person, Use Common Sense

Treat the protest site like a campsite – leave it cleaner than when you arrived. Don’t trample flower beds (unless chaos breaks out and you are trying to get safe quickly – I value your life over the roses), don’t litter, don’t use paint or permanent markers to deface property. Chalk the sidewalk if you need to leave a mark – it washes away.

If someone falls, help them up. If someone sits down because they are feeling faint or dizzy, help form a protective circle around them while someone goes to find a medic.

Don’t tone-police. People protest for different reasons and have different tolerances for what they want to say and how they want to show up in public.

If you take your kids, that does not give you the right to tell other people how to behave. It does give you the obligation to keep your kids safe and monitor what they are doing so they do not cause problems for themselves or someone else.

Don’t get swept up in the moment. Be safe, don’t put yourself or anyone else at risk. Stay focused on the goals and message.

Protest is patriotic and deeply important and valuable. It is your right. Your rights are never unlimited, however, and these are terrifying times when key people in government seem willing to ignore decades of legislation and jurisprudence if it suits them.

Resources for Deeper Reading

ACLU Know Your Rights – “The First Amendment protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials are allowed to place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights. Make sure you’re prepared by brushing up on your rights before heading out into the streets.”

Electronic Frontier Foundation Digital Security Tips for Protesters – Written in 2016 but some parts are still relevant, particularly the suggestion to use Signal for secure communications.

ACLU – DC – How to Defend Against Police Surveillance at Protests – quick bullets that you can use as as starting point to search specific topics.

Indivisible – Safety, Security, and Digital Preparedness for a Second Trump Administration – Pretty comprehensive. Scroll to the bottom for great links to other resources.

Posted in politics, protest, time for action | Tagged | 2 Comments

Petty, Petty Men & their Clinging and Clawing

Posted on December 16, 2024 by nonsequiteuse

Houston’s mayor took it upon himself to announce that the county judge wouldn’t be seeking a third term. The problem, of course, is that isn’t his decision to make. According to the Houston Chronicle, John Whitmire said:

“She’s not enjoying her work. And she’s happy now. I saw on social media she got back this weekend from her wedding destination. But let me tell you what, this is a tough job at any level. You definitely lose your privacy. She’s obviously documented some of her emotional issues, which, this is a terrible profession to be in if you’re struggling with pressure.”

His message is clear. This little lady who sure is emotional should step away from her career, from the Ver Hard Job that is clearly too much pressure for her emotional little lady brain, and be a happy wife. And if she’s too addled to make that decision, I’ll announce her plans for her.

I expect it, at this point, from men in power.

The casual misogyny. The utter contempt that seems to ratchet up a few levels if the woman in question is younger, trans, or not white. From time to time, Whitmire will claim to be doing things “for the children,” but it seems to only come up when he is speaking in opposition to a woman who has not had children.

He also couldn’t resist the truly nasty ableism of implying that women are ‘too emotional,’ and inferring that someone a mental health condition makes a person unfit for office if and only if that person is a woman. The clearly intentionally implied remark that she should just give up and go home and spend some time being a wife.

Our mayor has all of the gravitas of an 11-year-old boy sitting outside the principal’s office for making the 17th deez nuts joke of the day.

He could barely conceal his contempt for Senator Molly Cook the whole time she ran against him. He seems to have a vendetta against Council Member Abbie Kamin, badgering and interrupting her no matter the topic, boxing her out, sandbagging her by announcing decisions without consulting her, and claiming to know her district better than she does. The man just cannot help but express his disdain for younger women in power.

It’s petty and pathetic.

But it isn’t just Houston, although we seem to have a particularly virulent strain festering in City Hall.

Newsweek pointed out in March 2023 that Congress had “More Chairmen Named ‘Mike’ Than Women Committee Leaders in Congress.“

Last week, we saw that the incoming leadership has decided to leave the He-Man Woman Haters Club sign nailed to the door, because as Rep. Steve Scalisse announced a few days ago, the incoming Republican House of Representatives will have zero committee chairs who are women.

Why do we accept this from people who expect us to call them leaders?

And why in particular would women opt to side with male leaders like this? To accept their support and approval? Whitmire seems to be trying to put his thumb on the scale for Annise Parker, and I have no doubt he’ll use his other thumb to support another woman should he decide not to run again.

I am eager to elect a new mayor and I’d be delighted to elect a feminist.

I would not be delighted to support anyone of any gender who is comfortable with, or silent about, Whitmire’s misogyny.

2027 cannot come soon enough, but it is far enough away that we do have time to talk amongst ourselves to decide how to hold men accountable for playing a role in creating true equity. Because women alone cannot stop sexism any more than Black women alone can end misogynoir, or transwomen put a stop to transphobia. It’s beyond time for us to expect and receive better from elected leaders.

I’ll let Sturgill Simpson spell it out from the last night of his fall tour:

[Speech starting at 1:30]: I just want to say I think it’s OK for people to disagree, as long as there’s compassion and kindness in everybody’s heart. And if we meet in the middle that’s OK.

But for anybody that’s pretty down right now, and maybe doesn’t know how to deal with the anxiety day-to-day that they find themselves accepting, I just want to tell you something that I believe.

I think that, uh–I don’t think, I know, because I’ve seen it–I think that this toxic patriarchal energy that we’re experiencing right now? This is an age coming to an end.

And what you’re seeing is that energy clinging and clawing for its survival ’cause it knows its dying. But we are headed towards something very beautiful and we just gotta go through some dark shit first to get there, OK?

So love everybody around you.
Don’t accept anything other than that.
And fuck shit up.

Posted in Houston, politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Radack: Bad for Harris County

Posted on October 10, 2024 by nonsequiteuse

I like to focus on the positive when I can, but sometimes, you need to know just how bad the alternative is when you’re looking at a race on the ballot that has two names you don’t know much about for an office you don’t know – or maybe even care – much about.

The Harris County Tax Assessor Collector & Voter Registrar race is between former Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack, the Republican, and Democrat Annette Ramirez, a 23-year property tax attorney with the Aldine ISD.

The Houston Chronicle gave her ringing endorsements, both in the 5-person Democratic primary in which she was running against 4 people with arguably better name recognition (though not better professional credentials), and the general election against Radack.

In fact, the Chronicle pointed out that Radack’s big idea, withholding funds he’d collected if he didn’t like something the county wanted to spend them on, was actually not something he was allowed, by law, to do.

Charles Kuffner nails it–you can follow this link to his summary, or the link in this quote to his interview with Annette. I added the emphasis:

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to my interview with Annette Ramirez from the primary, you should. She knows her stuff, and I fully expect she will make a difference. And if you’re old enough to remember Steve Radack, you know that the best place for him right now is, like, a golf course. Yell at the livestream of the Commissioners Court meetings all you want, dude. Your watch has ended. Anyway, read the endorsement and vote for Annette Ramirez.

His failure to grasp the legal bounds of what he could or could not do in the office should be, on their own, disqualifying.

But in case you need more reasons to vote against him and for Annette Ramirez, here are a few:

 People Enjoy Floods? Radack Thinks So

Who is they? They is residents of Harris County who, as of August 2016, had gone through an unreasonable number of floods, from Allison to Rita to Ike to Memorial Day to Tax Day, each of which could be described as once in a century (or more) except for the pesky fact that they were hitting every couple of years.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack recently said some people want to get flooded so they can cash in, and he’s not backing down from his comments…

“Frankly, over the years, and the many years I’ve been doing this… they frankly enjoy floods. They’d like to see a flood about every 7 years, because they want new cars, they want their homes redone,”

Yes, an elected official in Harris County actually looked around at the state of things a couple of months after the 2016 Tax Day Flood, which dumped 24 inches of rain in 24 hours and taking both reservoirs to their max – a year before the catastrophic failures at those reservoirs during Harvey – and caused at least 5 deaths, flooded almost 10,000 homes, and $2.8 billion-with-a-b in damages. Houston Flood Control called it a 10,000-year flood.

You can hear him say it: Channel 2 covered it, as did Channel 11 (where the quote above came from), and numerous other news sources.

As Houston continues to recover from the 1-2 punch of the derecho and Hurricane Beryl, and as we experience trauma-by-proxy watching beloved communities from Florida through the Carolinas stagger under the unbearably cruel destruction of Helene and Milton, imagine being an elected official whose comments at a community meeting basically being about people enjoying having their lives wrecked so they can get a new kitchen countertop.

Frivolous Lawsuits? That’s Radack!

You can file a lawsuit about anything, but that doesn’t mean there’s a legal basis for it.

Steve Radack filed a lawsuit alleging a violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Basically, the law says you have to post notice of meetings. You do not have to post the supporting materials. You can if you want, but you don’t have to. Radack’s frivolous lawsuit said Harris County Commissioners failed to post the supporting materials and so violated the Act.

This is the very definition of a frivolous lawsuit. He was willfully ignoring the law. Who needs that energy? What a waste!

Radack Supported Anti-Immigrant 287(g) Policy

As Commissioner, he supported and encouraged law enforcement to comply with the anti-immigrant 287(g) policy that turns local law enforcement officers into federal immigration enforcement support staff.

That’s not their job. Immigration law isn’t criminal law. 287(g) served no public safety purpose, as the people who’ve studied it note, and actually created harm while increasing expenses with no justifiable outcomes. 287(g) agreements were a priority of the Trump administration. Hardly a ringing endorsement.

Steve Radack has done nothing to inspire confidence in his ability to do this job–or even his interest in doing it. He was dropped into the race because he had a big campaign bank account (and so would not drain funds from other struggling Republican campaigns in the area) and some name recognition among a shrinking portion of the Harris County population.

He doesn’t understand the job. He doesn’t believe in helping constituents. He does believe in parroting virulently anti-immigrant GOP talking points.

We don’t need another member of the Party of Truculent Toddlers in office. I’m with Kuff. Go yell at the livestream, Radack, and leave actual governance to people with the heart and experience to do it.

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Do the Harris County Hustle

Posted on March 9, 2024 by nonsequiteuse

Harris County, we have at least* three more elections to vote in this year, so don’t go into hibernation until November.

You’re going to have the do the Harris County Hustle. Cue that groovy disco piccolo.

That video is the classic Hustle, not the Harris County Hustle.

Remember the Texas Two-Step in 2008 when you had to vote in the primary and then caucus after the polls closed?

That’s not what this is.

The Harris County Hustle is voting twice in two different elections in May.

Republicans are hoping you will not care about the first one, and will forget about the second one.

They’re trying to hustle you, so you gotta out-hustle them. The Harris County Hustle.

Now, get out your calendar and put VOTE on two dates:

Saturday, May 4, 2024
and
Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Use ink, please.

I’m going to give you the dates & details, and then will link to another blog and a Trib article for some background on why you need to vote on May 4th. And when I get organized, I’ll do a deeper dive into the reasons behind what’s going on and who to vote for and why, and then link it back to this post.

But please, today, take my word for it. You need to vote on May 4th & you need to vote for the slate below. And then you need to vote again on May 28th.

May 4th Special Election: Logistics

Saturday, May 4th will be Star Wars Day, yes, but it will also be a special election with, depending on where you live in the county, only 3 or 4 races on the ballot.

The is a sneaky election and the majority of races will be for a new position that for the time being does not seem to have any policy role to play. It definitely doesn’t pay. Republicans are hoping you’ll think doesn’t matter and skip voting.

It will matter. We may not understand exaclty how yet, but who do you trust – me or Republican Paul Bettencourt who created this new elected position? Here’s more background from Off the Kuff and the Texas Tribune.

The slate to vote for:

  • Place 1: Katherine Ballard Blueford-Daniels
  • Place 2: Melissa Noriega
  • Place 3: Melody Genneane Ellis she has withdrawn, so the new pick is Pelumi Adeleke (updated 3/21/24)

People in Texas Senate District 15 will also pick who will fill the remainder of current Mayor Whitmire’s senate term on May 4th. That district is not countywide, however, so most voters will have only the HCAD races on the ballot.

[If you are saying hey, I just voted in that Senate race, you were actually voting in the March primary election for the term that does not begin until January 2025. The May 4th election will decide who gets the seat for the rest of 2024. More in a bit. We know that Molly Cook and Jarvis Johnson got the most votes and so are the only two candidates in the May 28th runoff. Is it possible that another one of the candidates who didn’t make the runoff could win the special? Yes, I think so, and that would be weird, huh? But don’t get districted.] [Updated to add: only Molly Cook and Jarvis Johnson remain in the May 4th race. The other candidates have withdrawn per the Texas Secretary of State website.]

You can vote in this election even if you did not in March.

Other notable dates leading up to this election:

  • If you’re going to be out of town April 22 – May 4, request a ballot by mail now
  • Thursday April 4: You must be registered to vote by this day to vote on May 4th
  • Monday April 22: First day of early voting
  • Tuesday April 23: Last day to request a mail ballot
  • Tuesday, April 30: Last day of early voting
  • Saturday, May 4: Election Day

May 28th Primary Runoff: Logistics

The races on the May 28th ballot are those from March 5th in which no one got over 50% of the vote. In a number of races, most of which are countywide, this is the race that will determine who the Democratic nominee will be on the ballot in November.

One of those races is the Texas Senate District 15 – the candidates are simultaneously running for the remainder of the current term and the full next term.

You can vote in the Democratic primary runoff in May even if you did not vote at all in March, or if you voted in the March Democratic primary.

If you voted in the Republican primary in March, however, you can only vote in the Republican runoff. You can’t cross back to the Democratic runoff. And why are you voting for Republicans? They are just horrid.

Notable dates:

  • You can request a mail ballot if you will be out of town May 20 – 28. Do it now.
  • April 29: Deadline to register to vote if you’re not already registered or if you need to update your registration.
  • Monday May 20: first day of early voting
  • Friday May 17: last day to apply to vote by mail
  • Friday May 24: Last day of early voting
  • Monday May 27: Memorial Day
  • Tuesday May 28: Election Day

Yep, Election Day is the day after a long weekend. You should vote early, and encourage everyone else to do the same.

If you like voting on Election Day, I get it. Vote early anyway, and then on Election Day, you can still walk down to your precinct and say hey to everyone and get a sticker or a donut.

Much more to come, but I wanted to be sure that you get these dates on your calendar now so they don’t catch you by surprise.

Trust me, in both of these elections, every single vote will matter. So don’t screw this up.

*The reason I said at least 3 more times is that if the May 4th election doesn’t have one candidate who gets 50% + 1, a.k.a. the majority needed to win, there could be a special election runoff. No date as of yet.

Posted in Houston, politics, Texas, Texas Progressive Alliance | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Men & Dogs in Texas

Posted on January 18, 2024 by nonsequiteuse

Molly Ivins used to remind us regularly that Texas is a fine place for men and dogs, but hell on women and horses.I’d like to ask how long Democrats are OK letting that be the status quo, because I, for one, am ready for us to do better.

Exhibit A: First-time candidate Pervez Agwan, who has tried to frame himself as progressive.

AOC-inspired graphic design and stringing buzzy slogans together, however, does not a progressive make.

After allegations that he not only tolerated sexual harassment by a key staffer, but also directly harassed at least one young woman he had hired, he pulled a move so well-known to targets of misogynistic behavior that it has an acronym, the DARVO.

  • DENY: When news broke that a former staffer had filed a civil suit alleging sexual harassment and false imprisonment, he “called the lawsuit politically motivated and said the allegations are “unequivocally false.””
  • ACCUSE: In a singularly odious accomplishment, he didn’t just blame someone else. He added a heaping helping of antisemitism to the mix, bizarrely blaming AIPAC, the American Israsel Public Affairs Committee for the lawsuit, a line of attack he’s continuing to promote. He didn’t even see the accuser as someone with the agency to form her own conclusion about his campaign’s refusal to create a safe working environment.
  • REVERSE VICTIM AND OFFENDER: This is the inevitable moment in any story of rape, assault, or harassment–someone will protest that we cannot possibly hold this man accountable for his behafior becuase it might ruin his life.

    The line that just about did me because of how it reminded me of so many situations I and my friends have been in was another former stafffer recounting the candidate’s lament after two of them spoke to him about misogynistic behavior from his Organizing Director.

“He was curing a lot…asking why this was happening to him again.”

Why this was happening to him.

Sure, young women on the campaign were subjected to demeaning and dehumanizing sexual objectification, but the thing he focused on was what was happening to him.

And the latest from the Houston Landing suggests he’s still focused on himself and not fixing the problem or learning anything from the experience.

A spokesperson for the campaign invited the Houston Landing to interview Campaign Manager Alex Inkiow in late December. Inkiow offered an account of four months of internal strife while denying the key allegations against Agwan and Organizing Director Angelo Perlera. His assertions were contradicted in separate interviews with several ex-staffers accusing Perlera, Agwan and a former senior campaign staff member of sexual misconduct. 

Inkiow’s key claim that senior staff were unaware of any reported inappropriate workplace behavior by Perlera prior to a lawsuit being filed on Dec. 1 is contradicted by text messages shared by former staffers and the campaign’s own statement in response to the filing of the lawsuit. 

The campaign did not respond to requests from the Landing for any internal correspondence that could support its claim that it was unaware of the allegations, and Agwan failed to appear for a scheduled interview.

From “Agwan campaign is trying to move past misconduct allegations. Its accusers won’t let it,” by Paul Cobler, Houston Landing, published January 18, 2024.

A few years back, some brave souls tried to organize to protect the next generation of young, idealistic people entering the regressive field of Texas politics and policy. Olivia Messer wrote about the Burn Book of Bad Men. This spreadsheet populated from anonymous submissions about various politicians and operatives around the lege and throughout the state was meant to show anyone experiencing this bad behavior that they were not alone.

A small circle of men I respect and admire asked how they should respond, how they could help. They took part in a series of meetings about it.

I picked a brand new spiral notebook to document our plans.

Reader, I regret to inform you that its pages are largely blank.

Not entirely blank, though, because many of them were on hand to rally others when one brave woman who was only too familiar with the behavior that got men included in that Burn Book, took action. Voice shaking, she stepped to the mic in front of an auditorium full of people she knew, had worked alongside, and had advocated for, and she asked that the Houston LGBT Political Caucus (now the LGBTQ+ Caucus) deny Borris Miles the organization’s endorsement given his documented-by-police-and-court-records misogynistic and violent behavior that included brandishing a pistol during an argument and forcibly kissing a woman at a party.

I was there. I spoke up in support of that first woman, and I was shaking, too. A friend noticed and came to stand right by my side, and he stayed there the whole time providing more support than he might have realized as a line of very powerful people, many of whom were elected officials, basically said look, he’s one of our guys, and Democrats can’t afford to lose any guys, so we’re backing this guy.

But the body voted to deny that endorsement. Had my friend not been standing so close, I would have collapsed. I definitely cried. I had no idea how much sadness, anger, and fear I was carrying until the results were announced.

It was a blip, though. It wasn’t the beginning of a new era, and when stories like this latest one come out, it is hard to be optimistic.

Now, it can be done, so we can’t lose hope.

Even the Republican-dominated Texas House of Representatives wasn’t willing to turn a blind eye when the story broke that one of its sanctimonious family values champions, now former Rep. Bryan Slaton, had engaged in what gets euphemistically called “inappropriate sexual conduct” with a campaign staffer. The House, to its great credit, did its own investigation and kicked him out.

The vote was unanimous. That’s a pretty big blip.

I am sorry that they have to be the ones to do it, but I hope the people who’ve left Agwan’s campaign keep this issue in front of voters. I don’t care how progressive his values may be–we simply cannot continue to reward behavior like this in politicians, or we’ll never truly build an equitable democracy.

I appreciate the Houston Landing for continuing to report on the story. We need journalism like this, so I hope their board and EIC can restore trust and keep the momentum going.

And look, you may not know me, but if you’re in politics and someone has assaulted you, or propositioned you, or leered at you late at night in the office after you suddenly realize once again he’s managed to arrange things so that the two of you are the only ones left working, tell someone.

If you don’t know who to tell, tell me. Because I promise you, you’re not the only one, and you won’t be the last one. I’ll keep your secret, because your story isn’t mine to tell unless you give me permission to do so. I’ll encourage you to tell it. I’ll help you find the people who can support and protect you. Or I’ll just listen, if that’s what you need, and I’ll believe you.

Posted in Houston, politics, progressive, Texas, time for action, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments