Intervention Guide

Why are you intervening? Because you’re trying to hold your congressman accountable. But for what exactly? I intend for this guide to be available for the sake of posterity and to be used far into the future. So subjects may change, injustices will look different, but overall the principles will remain the same. Hold your politicians accountable to the injustice they are perpetuating. Some are actively a proponent of said injustice while others’ depraved indifference allows the injustice to continue. Meaning the politicians' inaction is what allows the injustice to go on. 

 

Your job is to shine the light on them and expose them for what they really think.


What do you want the congressman to know? For one, that you know the injustice is happening and you’re there to call them out on their participation in it. For example, when AOC was confronted in October of 2022, she was told she had become the same establishment that she said she was going to fight. Now she’s an active proponent of weapons and money to Ukraine. She was reminded that not all Americans are on board with this war. 


What do you want the people in the room to know? The people in the room are probably constituents or big supporters of the politician. You won’t change all their minds, but you might get one or two to consider what you’re bringing up to the politician. They may not understand what you say, but they’ll understand your sincerity and may be inclined to investigate what you bring up. You may be able to change some minds in the room, you may not. In fact, always anticipate the room will not be on your side. 


What do you want the world to know? The interventions have gone viral not just in the US, but around the globe. When you stand up and speak, you are broadcasting a message to the world. Give them a reason to listen to you and support you. Call out the truth to the politicians and your message will resonate internationally. Therefore, stick to the subject. Try not to scatter your points too much. And keep it on the highest level so that all people can understand what you’re talking about. Stick to one or two issues that are related. 

 

*Disclaimer, if you’re doing local politics and want to call out someone like the mayor for budget cuts, that's fine, but it wont resonate with people outside your community.

  • Eventbrite. I find that going on Eventbrite and typing in “politics” or “political” or some variation of that leads to good results. 
  • Emails. Sign up to all representative emails in your area for as far as you’re willing to travel. I mean all. State Reps often have joint events with congressman and senators all the time. A senator or Congressman may not announce it, but the state rep sure will. So from the council member all the way up to state senator. Sign up for their emails.
  • Social Media. Follow them on social media, facebook, Twitter and instagram. Especially their official rep accounts. They post community stuff there all the time. 
  • Contact them. Sometimes calling their offices or the offices of local reps will yield you with information on upcoming events, fundraisers or even insider events!

 

  • Important phone numbers are written somewhere on your arm with a sharpie. 
  • Cameras of some type. Your phone(s) will be just fine
  • Pre-registration confirmation. A lot of these events allow you to pre-register. Do it. Especially if it's your first time. 
  • Make sure you know what you’re going to intervene on. Refer to “Why am I intervening” for more

Make sure that at least one person is dedicated to being a cameraman. The others in the group who are prepared to talk should be recording their voice on the voice-memo app on iPhone or whatever the Android equivalent is. This is how we did the AOC Intervention.

The benefit of being in a group of 3 or more is that you can efficiently engage in a dialogue with the politician you are confronting. Very often, an excellent question may be asked by an activist, such as, "Was the U.S. responsible for destroying the Nord Stream pipeline?" However, instead of waiting for the politician to respond, the activist continues to speak, segueing into even more topics. Though this may be necessary for some settings (e.g., if no questions are being taken, you're by yourself, etc.) It is optimal to engage in more of a question/response/follow-up format. If you have 3 people at least, and if the Q&A is honest, this scenario can work well:

If the Q&A is honest:

  • Attend the event but do everything possible to appear that you're not working together. 
  • Here's how it could go down with 4 activists:
    • Activist A goes first. Provide a little context, then ask a single straightforward question. Avoid asking multiple questions. The politician will give a weak response. Refrain from interrupting. 
    • Activist B, once they're called, goes next and asks a follow-up question based on the politician's weak response to Activist A. Refrain from interrupting.
    • Activist C, once they're called, asks another follow-up question, or changes the subject to something else that the politician is failing on. Refrain from interrupting.
    • Activist D, follow-up question based on weak responses to earlier questions. And so on.
  • Here is a script of what could take place:
    • Activist A: Provide some light context, then go into asking if the US is responsible for destroying the Nord Stream pipeline. 
      • Response: No, or we don't know - dismissive response
    • Activist B: Following up on the earlier response, why have you not inquired about who's responsible for destroying the Nord Stream pipeline?
      • Response: Non-answer; we love Ukraine
    • Activist C: Challenge the bullshit non-answer or segue into why we’re not advocating for a peace agreement. 
      • Response: Russia is evil; we must stop them.
    • Activist D: Reference why we support Saudi despite what they’re doing in Yemen. Why doesn't Yemen get the same level of support from us? Palestine and Syria can be referenced as well.
      • Response: dismissive answer
  • Positives of this approach:
    • Your chances of getting kicked out are significantly reduced. The longer you're there and the more questions you can ask, you have a better chance of getting responses and winning the audience over. The more the audience is engaged, the more the politicians will have to answer the questions.  
    • The audience will be more receptive to the line of questioning since you're not being painted immediately as an activist. Who knows, you might even get other audience members to ask the right questions. 
    • The video you produce from this will be better received and gain more attention since you're not painted as an activist but rather as a constituent asking very reasonable questions. 
    • It might be easier to get into other events; you won’t be blacklisted
    • Examples of Honest Q&A: 


There is a dishonest Q&A:

  • Here's what I mean by dishonest Q&A: If the town hall or whatever event says they're doing a Q&A but want people to write their questions or write their name down to be “called on” later, you can bet that they're going to disregard or move on completely. The last thing the politicians want is to be confronted or challenged in an honest way.
  • This means you have to stand up. Since you've got a group of three-plus people, the best way to intervene is to have one person go after the other. Here's a scenario:
    • Suppose you're in the Q&A section of the town hall, and the questions are softballs. Stand up when it's the quietest or when the audience is mostly focused on what the Congressman is saying. Shout out a question, something like "Congressman! Why aren't you addressing the Nordstream Sy Hersh revelations?" and give the Congressman a moment to respond. If he does, hear him out. If he dismisses your question, or gives you a softball answer, keep the pressure on him. Don’t let up. 
    • Once you're escorted out, the second person should start once the crowd has settled again. This could be moments after the first guy left, or it could be a few minutes. It could be a repeat of the question posed by the first activist, or it could be on another topic altogether. Depends on what the intervention is about. Repeat these steps till you're down to the last activist. 
    • If you're the last activist, which means you're also the cameraman, you can either just leave or you can stand up with your camera pointed at the Congressman. As happened in our Mike Pompeo intervention.


If there is no Q&A:

  • Similar to how you would handle a dishonest Q&A format, your team will need to stand up in order to be heard. 
  • You can decide for yourself when it is best to stand up, but make sure there is no background audience noise, like clapping and just generally make sure you're able to be heard. 
  • Here is a scenario:
    • Activist A stands up and shouts out their comments or questions for everybody to hear. If the Congressman decides to respond, let him do so; if he doesn’t, continue the pressure.
    • Activist B waits for Activist A to be escorted out, and once the crowd has calmed down, he/she can stand up and make their comments. These steps apply to the rest of the team involved, but also note that the crowd may already be used to shouting down hecklers, so it will be harder the more people stand up.
    • Here is an intervention we did on President Biden at Sarah Lawrence College. We had a total of 5 people who spoke.

Make sure that one person is dedicated to being a cameraman. The person intervening should record themselves using a voice memo app on their iPhone, Android, or any other device.

Once the first person has finished intervening and has been escorted out of the event, the second person recording may decide to do their own intervention right afterward and record their perspective. Also, be sure to look for live streams or other coverage of the event so that you can use their footage as well. A good example of this kind of intervention is the most recent one against Anne Applebaum: https://twitter.com/JosBtrigga/status/1631482149336498183?s=20


If the Q&A is honest:

  • Attend the event but do everything possible to appear that you're not working together. 
  • You should raise your hand and wait to be called on at first. If you respect the event, it will increase your chances of having an honest dialogue with the speaker. However, if you have not been called on and the event is about to close, then you should immediately speak up once the speakers finish answering a question. 


If the Q&A is dishonest:

  • You're most likely not going to be called on and shouldn't risk it. You should stand up and speak when it is appropriate to do so. 
  • An example of a dishonest Q&A: The event is not taking any verbal questions but instead makes you write it on a piece of paper, and then the moderator reads it out for the speaker. This is obviously a scenario when you know you are going to have to interrupt. If the format is dishonest, why should you show it any respect?
  • Suppose you're in the Q&A section of the town hall, and the questions are softballs. Stand up when it's the quietest or when the audience is mostly focused on what the Congressman is saying. Shout out a question, something like "Congressman! Why aren't you addressing the Nordstream Sy Hersh revelations?" and give the Congressman a moment to respond. If he does, hear him out. If he dismisses your question, or gives you a softball answer, keep the pressure on him. Don't let up. 
  • Once you have been escorted out, the cameraman can either leave with you or speak up themselves. They can either address another topic or follow up on what was originally said.


If there is no Q&A:

  • Pretty much the same as the dishonest one. You will be required to interrupt the speaker while he/she is speaking, so choose the right moment and project yourself loudly so that you can be heard. Be sure to text your cameraman or indicate to them that you are about to speak up so that they can start recording.
  • Again, the cameraman may choose to either follow up or just leave if the first person's comments were sufficient.

You're going to have to rely on yourself being both the cameraman and the person. Do some research, and see if there's a live stream. Regardless of whether or not there's a live stream, you want to position yourself somewhere you can be heard by the speaker. Hold up your own phone horizontally and point it right at the person you're addressing. That's your best bet. 

If the Q&A is honest:

  • Reposition yourself to where you can be close to the designated microphone or in view of the person who's choosing questions to ask. 
  • You should raise your hand and wait to be called on at first. If you respect the event, it will increase your chances of having an honest dialogue with the speaker. However, if you have not been called on and the event is about to close, then you should immediately speak up once the speakers finish answering a question.


If the Q&A is dishonest:

  • You're most likely not going to be called on and shouldn’t risk it. You should stand up and speak when it is appropriate to do so. 
  • An example of a dishonest Q&A: The event is not taking any verbal questions but instead makes you write it on a piece of paper, and then the moderator reads it out for the speaker. This is obviously a scenario when you know you are going to have to interrupt. If the format is dishonest, why should you show it any respect?
  • Suppose you're in the Q&A section of the town hall, and the questions are softballs. Stand up when it's the quietest or when the audience is mostly focused on what the Congressman is saying. Shout out a question, something like "Congressman! Why aren't you addressing the Nordstream Sy Hersh revelations?" and give the Congressman a moment to respond. If he does, hear him out. If he dismisses your question, or gives you a softball answer, keep the pressure on him. Don't let up. 
  • Once you're escorted out, don't be afraid. Even though you're alone, you're not. You've got your rights. Refer to the "What to do when being escorted out" section of this document.  


If there is no Q&A:

  • Pretty much the same as the dishonest one. You will be required to interrupt the speaker while he/she is speaking, so choose the right moment and project yourself loudly so that you can be heard. Be sure to start recording and make sure you hold it horizontally and at the person you’re addressing.