How Protest Marshals Sabotage Liberation and Protect the State

by some abolitionists in L.A.

What is Peace Policing?

This is a term for individuals whose self-appointed role at political demonstrations is to regulate the conduct of protestors in the name of “protecting” them, serving as the police’s representatives within the crowd. We call these practices policing because that is their function. Peace policing strips protests of power. Peace policing is also tactically dangerous. This is where the figure of the protest marshal comes in. Protest marshals are an extension of riot police. Protest marshals are the police state’s keffiyeh-wearing (“safe, welcoming physical presence” as the Department of Justice puts it) front line against the people. Peace policing is a weapon of counterinsurgency. The goal is to divert, redirect, and contain the people’s insurgent energy into protests that the state can tolerate.

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