Thinking of my youth and where I was raised, I started doing research about riots, I guess from seeing the various TV violence that is happening around our great county.
Here is some of what I found:
What to do if you are caught in the middle of a riot. Do yourself a favor and walk away when the trouble starts brewing. It’s harder than it sounds though.
Our first impulse when we see a crowd gathering is to see what’s going on. It’s easy to get excited by the crowd’s energy, and the lure of just wanting to see what going to happen is hard to resist. Resisting these tendencies is important in many circumstances.
This is similar to people who ‘rubberneck’ as they drive by a fender-bender or accident, etc. Most humans seem to be lured to disaster or calamity (“curiosity killed the cat”) and such. Also similar to the attraction of being in a crowd in a sports arena – the adrenalin rush of the shouting masses, etc. Interesting if there’s a crowd, most people instinctively are very curious and are drawn closer to it.
You just have to tell yourself to get moving, the most you have to gain is to save your life and the ones you love.
It makes no difference if you are female and it is quite possible that the person who attacks you might be female. The attack may be superficial and you may be tempted to fight back or voice your anger. Do not, keep moving, there are others in the crowd who are friends of your attackers and probably are moving towards you even as you are sucker punched or shoved. Keep moving, keep your spouse/girlfriend/friends moving. The odds are against you and that may not be obvious until it’s too late. Nothing is better right at that moment then distance. Let the thugs find someone else to beat up.
Here are a few ideas of how to escape a riot, should you ever get caught up in one.
The first piece of advice is to pay attention to your surroundings and have an escape plan everywhere you go. When you see things starting to go bad (massing police, masked looters, people setting fires) GET OUT! Implement your escape plan! Don’t stick around and become a target for police batons, gangs of teen looters, or panicked crowds. Usually the people who get hurt or killed in these events are the people who aren’t paying attention or who want to stand around and be a spectator.
If you can get your back to a wall, organize yourself and plan your escape. If you are wearing a backpack, bag, or purse, swing it around to the front side of your body where it can serve as a shield. This also prevents thieves and looters from trying to take it from you. Take a look at the crowd. Look for gaps. Your goal is to look far enough ahead and move from gap to gap, exploiting the openings in the crowd. Holding both arms in front of you with your hands together in a wedge shape will help get you through the crowd. Move along walls if you can with your “wedge” out in front of you, deflecting people off to the side. Turning your shoulders will also helpful.
Stay calm and keep your emotions in check. Riots coincide with intense emotions that boil to the surface, but if you want to survive one you would be better off keeping your own emotions in check. In the heat of the moment, your adrenaline and survival instincts will kick in, but try to think rationally and pursue safety in a methodical manner.
Avoid confrontation. Keep your head down, while at the same time looking for safe exit.
Walk. Don’t run. Don’t stop. If you run or go too quickly, you might attract unwanted attention.
Get inside and stay there. Typically riots happen in the streets, or somewhere outside. Being inside, especially in a large and sturdy structure, can be good protection to wait it out.
Keep your doors and windows locked. Don’t watch the riot from windows or porches. Move to inside rooms, where the danger of being hit by stones, bullets, or other is minimized. Try to find at least two possible exits in case you need to evacuate the building in a hurry.
Stay on the sidelines. If you’re caught up in a riot, don’t take sides. Try to look as inconspicuous as possible, and slowly and carefully move to the outside of the mob. Stay close to walls or other protective barriers if possible but try to avoid bottlenecks. These are areas where the crowd can be squashed into a tight place, such as tunnels, pillars, high fences and walls that go on for a long way.
If you’re caught up in a car, stay calm. Remain inside the car unless your car becomes a focus for the riot, in which case it risks being torched, smashed or rolled over. Calmly and swiftly leave it behind and get to safety if that happens. If people seem to block your escape route; honk your horn, and carefully drive through or around them at a moderate speed, and they should get out of the way. Driving towards police lines can be interpreted by the police as a preparation to use the car as a weapon against them. DON’T DO IT.
OR
If you are in your car and are surrounded by rioting criminals, KEEP MOVING! Don’t stop and allow them to open your doors or break your windows to drag you out. I wouldn’t intentionally run someone over (unless that person posed a lethal force threat to me), but I wouldn’t stop either. Pick a route (over the curb if necessary) and slowly drive through the crowd. Your car will likely be damaged, but you will be out of the mess soon.
Don’t get in the habit of knowing only one route in to or out of a place to which you commonly drive. Flexibility in these situations is paramount. Keep your situational awareness up and be prepared to alter your route if you encounter throngs of people or roadblocks.
Move away from the riot. The more time you spend in the midst of a riot, the greater your chance of being injured or killed. That said, in most circumstances it’s better to move out of a riot slowly. It can also be dangerous to move against a crowd, so go with the flow until you are able to escape into a doorway or up a side street or alley. Think of crowd movement like currents in the ocean. In a large riot, the crowd in the middle will be moving faster than the people on the perimeters. As such, if you find yourself in the middle, you should not try to move in a different direction, but follow the flow and slowly make your way to the outside. This requires patience in order to work properly.
Watch your footing in a mob situation. If you stumble and fall to the ground you’re likely to be trampled. This is especially dangerous in stadiums and other enclosed areas, where many unfortunate victims have been crushed to death. If you fall down, pull yourself up into a ball. Protect your face, ears and internal organs. In this position you are a smaller object that can be avoided. You will receive less damage if you are stepped on. If others trip on you they will help create a larger “pile” that rioters will avoid.
Weapons:
Having some sort of less lethal weaponry will help. Many of the criminals who are caught up in the spirit of the riot are not very dedicated or motivated. A quick blast of pepper spray will usually make them look for easier targets.
If you are attacked and you don’t have any spray (or the spray doesn’t work), you must act decisively. Don’t get caught in the middle of two or more attackers.
If possible, keep moving to the outside of the group of attackers to “stack” them, or line them up so you only have to fight one at a time. If you do get surrounded, violently attack one of the gang and either use him as a temporary shield or blast through him to make your escape. Don’t just blindly run away, you may be running into an area where there are more problems. Instead of running AWAY from the criminals, run TOWARD safety. And remember that “safety” in this case may not be the band of police in their riot gear with batons out and ready!
Even if you are attacked by unarmed rioters, you still may be justified in using deadly force to protect yourself. Multiple attackers using their fists and feet can constitute a reasonable perception of the risk of “serious physical harm or death”.
In that case, you may be justified in using your firearm or knife to protect yourself. The knife might actually be the better tactical choice as it is harder to take away from you, won’t hit others in the crowd if the round misses or over penetrates, and won’t cause even more chaos in the already panicked mass of people. If you do choose to use a firearm, be very careful. It’s easy to lose a gun in a crowd. Learn how to make an inconspicuous draw, conceal your weapon in hand, and shoot from the retention position.
Also beware that the police may have posted snipers who could shoot you if they see you have a gun. As bad as it may sound, police often won’t differentiate between a criminal and a legally armed citizen trying to protect himself in a situation like this. Everyone who is in the riot is thought of as a criminal. “Criminals” shooting guns get shot by the police.
EQUIPMENT CONSIDERATIONS
In addition to your everyday carry items like a firearm, spare magazine, and knife, there are a few other easily carried items that may help you if you find yourself in a riot or flash mob:
Pepper Spray- As I previously wrote, this may be a lifesaver. If you can deter a criminal attack without having to use your gun, you will be much better off both tactically and legally. A small can of pepper spray should be carried on your person or in your car. I keep a can in my car and throw it in my pocket whenever I am going someplace where I might encounter a large crowd of people.
A bandanna or triangular bandage- Besides its obvious use as a piece of multipurpose medical equipment, a wet bandanna can be tied or held over your nose or mouth to temporarily protect you from tear gas. I prefer holding the bandanna rather than tying it over my mouth and nose. A bandanna tied over one’s face screams “criminal” to the police. I would rather not be a target for baton blows or rubber bullets if I am mistaken for a criminal. Holding the bandanna makes you look like a victim, not an attacker.
Spare contact lenses if you wear them- Tear gas will destroy your soft contacts.. If you need your lenses to see, carry a spare pair.
Protective glasses or sunglasses- When the police start firing beanbag rounds, Stingball grenades and rubber bullets, you will want your eyes protected. Those rounds hurt if they hit skin. If they hit your eyes, you can be seriously injured.
A flashlight- if you are out at night in a crowd, you should have a light. Besides its regular uses, a stout flashlight can be an improvised impact weapon. If the riot occurs at night, you will want the light to check out any unlit alleys or other areas you might be considering for escape or refuge.
MEDICAL SKILLS
You should be prepared to deal with cuts from thrown debris, tear gas exposure, and sprained or fractured ankles occurring to both yourself and to others. The cuts should be thoroughly cleaned and bandaged, but you may be able to wait until you get to safety to do this. Don’t stand around in the middle of a riot putting a band aid on your minor cut!
The sprains are generally treated with rest, ice, compression, and elevation. None of those are possible in the middle of a riot. Wrap the ankle with duct tape or your bandanna, find something or someone to lean on and get yourself out! Having a couple of strong analgesic pain pills (strong enough to dull fracture pain, but not so strong that they make you loopy) in your pocket may be helpful additions to the equipment list above!
If you get exposed to tear gas or pepper spray, don’t panic. All the effects will diminish on their own without treatment in less than an hour. The definitive treatment for the spray exposure is fresh air and cold running water. Find a garden hose, shower or sink and flush your eyes and skin for 5-10 minutes. After that, most of the effects will be gone.
If you don’t have access to running water, take a plastic water bottle and poke a small hole in the lid. Squeeze the sides of the bottle to create a stream of water coming out the hole. Direct the stream into the affected eye or eyes. If there is an open store, purchase a cheap bottle of contact lens saline solution to do the same thing. If no water is available, open and close your eyes as hard and fast as possible to get the tears flowing. This will hurt initially, but will speed up the decontamination process.
This is what I’ve found. Thought it is important to share…stay safe.
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