Many groups utilize banner drops as part of their messaging strategy. Hanging a banner with your group’s message in a public place is one of the easiest ways to circumvent internet censorship. The Zuckerberg’s of the internet world are rendered powerless to stop that message from being seen.
Therefore, banner drops will never go away as an effective strategy for activism. It is a low-tech solution to a world of ever-increasing censorship against the Pro-White/National Socialist message. However, just like with freedom of speech on the internet, banner drops are something the System desires to censor. Hence, OPSEC for banner drops is just as critical as online OPSEC.
There is no banner drop without a banner. So, the first step is always the procurement of supplies. This article is different from other “how-tos” in that it will not address the actual steps to make a banner. Instead, the focus is on strategy and security at each stage. When procuring your banner making supplies it is important that you don’t leave any clues for the system to identify you.
Rule number one, DO NOT GET CAUGHT! That applies to the beginning of banner-making: when you walk into your local store and purchase your drop cloth, spray paint, stencils, grommets, or whatever else you use. It applies to when you drop the banner. Also, it applies after you’ve dropped the banner and feel the need to brag to the whole internet about what you just did. Remember: DO NOT GET CAUGHT!
When purchasing your banner making supplies, do not go to the local store where you live or a store near the planned banner drop point. If you think you won’t be noticed purchasing those cans of spray paint and that drop cloth, you’re wrong. No one will notice until your banner is on the 6 o’clock news and some system pig or drone remembers that person who came in and purchased the exact supplies seen on the news.
There is another rule here. Don’t use your credit card and don’t buy supplies off the internet. You may be thinking that buying supplies off the internet will help you avoid detection by your local system pig. However, if for some reason you come under suspicion by the system after your banner drop, your credit card and internet purchases will be the definitive link they need to connect you to what they will likely label an act of “domestic terrorism”.
Yes, banner drops are now being labeled this way by the system, along with other terms such as “hate crime” and “ethnic intimidation”. While many pro-white or NS groups will tell you it is “legal”, or “First Amendment” protected, remember that so are many other things that have been used to incarcerate or justify the killing of countless activists.
Then consider where you can make the banner. “Where” isn’t as important as “away from where”. Do it away from your neighbors’ eyes, away from your family that isn’t racially aware, and away from that public place with cameras. Wherever you make a banner, don’t do it where people can see.
One activist made a banner in his backyard where his neighbors could see. Sure enough, when his banner hit the local news, he was quickly doxxed and never engaged in activism again. There’s no substitute for common sense. If you don’t have a private place to make the banner, find one. Activists have gone into the woods, into abandoned homes, and used any other available place to make their banners. Rent an Airbnb or hotel room or whatever. Just don’t do it where Shlomo can see you from his back window!
The System has laws which it can and will bend or break at any time to suit its needs. We have found from experience that specific threats of violence are ineffective. It’s one thing to discuss the idea of violence and another to plan or state that you’re going to do something specific (in Roblox, of course). If someone says “Collapse the System” or “Pedos Need to Die” or similar true statements, these are general and non-specific.
They are simply fine. However, once we start calling out a specific person, such as a politician, or a specific place, such as the local gay club, this is where the System loves to unleash its hounds. From experience, general, ominous statements work better over specific threats. Whatever wording you choose, even if it’s edgy, be wise about what the boundaries are.
When constructing your banner, no part of the banner or any material that will be left at the scene should be touched unless you are wearing gloves. A recent forensic article detailed new techniques for extracting fingerprints from porous surfaces that formerly could yield no prints. The system is always going to be more advanced in what it can do to detect us so we must take every precaution necessary. Likewise, any packaging that the banner supplies came in as well as any receipts should not be put in your household trash can. System pigs love to get evidence from trash. Burn anything that can connect you to the banner and make sure nothing remains in the ashes.
The most critical and difficult aspect of the banner drop will always be the location. This is what will have you and your team up at night looking at maps, determining escape routes, and working out the best way to reach your audience. If you conduct a banner drop inside a large city, you’ll inevitably be faced with more cameras than you’ll realize. We often warn people away from banner drops inside large cities due to this. But the same can apply to any area of the country, even rural.
How many highways now have cameras for monitoring traffic? How many homes now have doorbell cams? How many cars now have dash cams? And this doesn’t account for every business you’ll pass by, each of which will likely have more than one camera. What’s equally important as the location of your banner drop is the route you take to get there and how many cameras there are along the way there and back. Don’t underestimate this critical point in choosing your banner drop.
Time of day is a huge factor in banner placement. Will it be at the peak of rush hour where every system pig will be driving by as you tie your banner to that bridge? Or will it be in the dead of night where no one will see it and even taking a picture of it is almost impossible due to darkness and lack of lighting?
In our experience, pre-dawn, such as 4am or 5am, has proven to be the most operationally sound time to conduct a banner drop. It allows the activist to drop the banner under complete cover of darkness and with little to no traffic. As the sun begins to rise afterwards, it permits the activist to film or photograph the banner with adequate light from the sun, versus having to use flashlights in complete darkness. This is also the time when police conduct their shift changes, leading to the fewest amounts of patrol cops in each zone. Afterwards, morning rush hour begins, causing the banner to receive maximum exposure from the passing motorists.
It has been said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Capturing one quality photo of your banner makes your effort indestructible. It is likely the banner will only remain hanging for minutes or an hour at best. But the photo and the message therein will last forever once it hits the internet. The enemy often claims it as a victory when the banner gets taken down, but the real objective is to use the media, both traditional and digital, to amplify your message and reach as many people as possible. Therefore, it is vital that good shots of your banner and the location of the drop be captured.
Remember that your photos store metadata and so does your phone. The biggest snitch you have in your group is sitting in your pocket. Don’t take Zuckerberg with you to your banner drop! Remember that pro-white and NS activism is falsely labeled “terror”. Once that term gets used, the system pigs can easily get into your location history and see your every movement. So don’t bring your personal phone, air tags, smart watch, air pods, and any other device whose sole purpose is to aid the system in suppressing any would be revolutionary. Get a burner phone for taking photos or use a GoPro.
Another key point to remember is not to brag online or in real life that you were the one that did the banner drop. Don’t jump onto Telegram immediately and tell all your internet friends, some of whom might be system pigs, that you just did a banner drop at such and such location while providing photographic proof to implicate yourself. You’ve just done half the system’s job for them in finding their next “domestic terrorist”. Rather, release the photo through a third party, such as through a group’s page, or post it yourself but without saying you were the one that did it.
These are some key points dealing with banner drops. The most effective strategy is to have a plan. And to have a plan is to put thought into your process. The goal is to survive. The goal is to remain anonymous. Your survival as a revolutionary is more important for the long-term game. We don’t want to see any of our brothers incarcerated, placed on a watch list, or flipped against us. Again, and finally, rule number one will always be: DO NOT GET CAUGHT!