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50501 is a nationwide movement of Americans standing for democracy against the GOP Administration's undemocratic vices by protesting across 50 states to demand upholding the Constitution and end executive overreach

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How Kid-Friendly should I expect the DC protest on April 5 to be? (50501.chat)

submitted 1 month ago by vvilld@50501.chat to c/General@50501.chat

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I live ~30 minutes outside DC and am planning on attending the protest on April 5. I have a 3yo and 5yo and would like to bring them, but I'm a bit nervous that might be a bad idea.

Anyone here involved in planning or know more details that can give me some advice on how kid-friendly the event might be?

For context, I've been attending political protests since my first in 2003 (against the invasion of Iraq....man do I feel old). I've been to some huge, heavily marketed events like the Women's March in 2017 or the various Marches for Science which I felt would be perfectly kid-friendly. I've also been to some heavily marketed events (a lot in 2020) which I absolutely would NOT want to bring a small child to.

Obviously, if I bring my kids I'm not going to be getting into much more than holding a sign and sticking to the less rowdy parts of the crowd. If things look like it's heating up a bit, my family and I will be out right away. But if this event seems like it might not have a great vibe for kids, I might think about taking them to a smaller event in Frederick or Annapolis instead.

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[–] Wuorg@50501.chat 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I'm gonna urge you to reconsider. I think bringing them along to DC is a really bad idea. I'm not so much worried about the protesters, but rather what Trump et al will do. There's real fear about how far they will be willing to go (consider what Trump was willing to do just for a photo op in his first term).

I know you mentioned that you would get out of dodge quick if things turned south, but you won't be the only one with this instinct. The crowd will likely be massive enough to the point that little ol' DC's transportation infrastructure won't be able to handle a sudden mass exodus (Edit: Depending on the time of day I suppose. I understand that DC has a large commuter pop). To the point that just trying to leave could become dangerous (for reasons like crowd crush, auto accidents, that kind of thing). Granted, that's basically the worst case scenario and under the assumption that there will be at least somewhere on the order of thousands of protesters (it might be much smaller, who can say at this point).

I really respect wanting to raise them to be politically conscious, but perhaps doing it from afar would be a better idea this time around.

[–] vvilld@50501.chat 4 points 1 month ago

That's really why I was hoping to hear from someone involved in planning. If this event is permitted, will have infrastructure constructed (ie a stage, gates, etc) and has a public schedule of speakers, etc along the lines of the Women's March in 2017, the March for our Lives in 2018, or the various Marches for Science, then I think it's much less likely to see a violent crackdown by the administration.

On the other hand, if this is more along the lines of the airport protests against the travel ban in 2017, the anti-Iraq War protests in 2003, or the 2020 uprising protests, which were all MUCH less structured and had a much more confrontational vibe to them, then I think there's a greater likelihood of a violent crackdown.