‘No Kings’ was biggest protest in U.S. history: data analyst

This 110%!

You see masked people with guns don't engage with them or ask for ID. That's dangerous for you, and it's not your job.

Instead, immediately call 911 and report a group of masked individuals with guns at your location.

I think the statistic of 3.5 is more of a symptom rather than the cause of a regime's fall. For 3.5% to protest means that:

1. Anger has reached a high level in the general population (a lot lot higher than 3.5%),
2. The state of affairs is dire enough and hopeless enough that the trust that the system can improve on its own is very very low.

Probably other reasons.

This oversells it. 3.5% is the level at which experts say can cause a "Tipping Point" for a trend to take hold, such as a dad like hula-hoops or yo-yos, to revolutions.

It's not guaranteed, though.

I'm also confused because even the high estimates pale in comparison to the George Floyd protests, do those not count for some reason?

It's tricky to estimate things. If you take footage from drones or helicopters, how many people will be hidden behind trees? There are ways to guess, but those come with assumptions that can give you very different numbers. Local organizers, police, and the media can all come to different numbers with perfectly reasonable differences in assumptions or techniques.

This should be kept in mind for any big outdoor event where there's no specific entry points to count people going by. Affects Trump's parade, too.

I am so bringing tea next time

Unfortunately change requires repeated and/or sustained protests over time, so we'll have to see. But this was a good sign that it may be possible. If we go to war with Iran, a whole new cohort will be added to the numbers.

Silly liberals, your strategy of standing on the streets pales in comparison with my strategy of sitting at home.

Think of it as a medieval army forming up. An army didn't generally march straight into battle. They took the time to organise and prepare. It also acted as an opportunity to intimidate your opponents into backing down.

The protests are the army forming up. Connections are made, wills reinforced and tied to a more focused cause. In many cases, the powers that be recognise the danger this represents and back down. When they don't, that's when things escalate.

Protests like this are a necessary part of reaching the goal. They are a link in the chain. People don't want violence. It will be accepted, if required, but not joyously.

Just remember, in a blunt head to head fight, the enemy would be the US military. You would need to either defeat them directly, or break their will. What would it take to cause large scale defections within the US army? Are people willing to pay that price?

Failing that, the slower, less drastic methods must be employed. It's a war of psychological attrition, not a fist fight.

Go be our one person, then.

you nailed it, and as you can see by the number of downvotes, we are fucked.