A guide for neighbors who want to protect each other safely, lawfully, and without spreading rumors.
What your group can do
Show up, document, connect
Stand with families at the Tuesday vigil and the Saturday support tent, using a buddy system so no one is alone.
Walk or drive families to visits, and sit with them while they wait.
Observe and write down what happens, safely, from a distance.
Check reports before passing them on, so rumors do not spread.
Connect people to the hotlines and lawyers below. Your group is not the lawyer.
Ground rules
Safe, calm, and lawful
Stay at a distance and stay calm. Your job is to see and to support, not to confront.
Do not block, touch, or follow anyone or any vehicle.
In New York you can generally record what happens in public, as long as you do not interfere. Check with a lawyer for your situation.
Work in pairs. One person records or writes, the other watches the surroundings.
Do not give legal advice. Say "I am not a lawyer. Here is a hotline."
Leave if you feel unsafe. No report is worth anyone getting hurt.
Documenting
What to write down
Date, time, and exact place.
What you saw: number of people and vehicles, uniforms, markings, what agency they said they were.
What was said, in the words you heard. Note if anyone asked for a lawyer.
Where a person was taken, if you were told. Do not guess.
Names and contact details only from people who agree to share them.
Verify first
Confirm before you alert
A false alarm costs trust and can put people at risk. Use one point person, and send alerts in the same short format every time.
UNCONFIRMED or CONFIRMED (pick one)
Time: [__]
Place: [cross streets or block]
What was seen: [one or two plain facts]
Confirmed by: [name of group point person, or "one person, not yet checked"]
Needed: [observers / legal hotline / nothing yet]
Do not forward photos of faces or names of anyone targeted.
Your group chat
Keep it private and clean
Use Signal and turn on disappearing messages.
Name one or two admins. Remove anyone nobody can vouch for.
Keep phone numbers, addresses, and photos of people out of the chat unless they agreed.
Agree on one point person who confirms before anything goes out to the wider group.