I know we are all busy preparing for the upcoming board meeting, but this cannot wait. We have been approached now 5 times by a reporter from CNN who is pushing the narrative that the protest turned violent at the Capitol building was well coordinated using radios, and wants to know if they were amateur radios. We've been in touch with the Maryland-DC Section Manager who has given Bob detailed feedback about how his team used their monitoring of simplex and repeater frequencies for situational awareness of the unrest. Nothing - absolutely nothing - was received on the frequencies monitored. Bob has provided the CNN reporter with precisely that information: hams were monitoring, situationally aware, and absolutely nothing heard on the amateur bands. The FBI has now issued warnings about expected protests and potential riots in DC as well as all 50 state capitals next week. Especially on Inauguration Day. Our EmComm served agencies are going to be on alert or on duty. I believe we have an obligation to give some kind of guidance to our members, especially given the potential widespread geographic impact of these protests. Would we encourage EmComm (ARES) members to coordinate with their local SEC's or other leadership to know what local activity is being planned? Should we be giving guidelines with regard to what we view as being safe and acceptable situational awareness activities? Should we be encouraging members who are not ARES (or otherwise) trained to stay away from these areas? Given the high profile that handheld radios have received by the national press (including numerous images on the nightly news networks) over the past few days, I think we must take a proactive position - and keep amateur radio out of the dialog surrounding these protests or, worse, riots. Comments?
