You probably haven’t read this book, but this is how one protests.

Direct Action Everywhere, Investigation Manual (2023), 2nd edition.

Direct Action Everywhere’s book 2023 Investigation Manual - How to Expose Animal Abuse is a book about how to protest, not a book about animal abuse, per se. This is what makes it particularly relevant to anybody interested in social progress and community action.

I initially came across it in the November, 2023 issue of Wired magazine (Greenberg, 2023)¹. The short audio clip above contains a few spoken excerpts. It isn’t only a document about rescuing non-human animals; it is a how-to manual for social action and for direct participation in human democracy.

As you listen to it or read it, mentally make these three substitutions: replace the word investigator with protester, animal with human, and farm with day‑labor meetup/church/school, or whatever the case may be.

Having gone through this guide to investigating and documenting injustices, one will have a good beginner’s idea of what to do if the need arises to document any of society’s ills. And how to do it, too.

Who? Trouble makers. When? When enough is enough.

But only if there were any what’s to investigate. And any compelling whys to motivate one. Then one’d be off to a strong start by reading this.

But everything is going great though, right? There’s nothing happening that anyone needs to get exercised about. Everything in the world is going pretty well. Right?

The 2023 Investigation Manual is a remarkable document. It is the first modern text I have read that explains in detail how one conducts investigations. It is a modern playbook that explains the safety and security protocols, planning and execution, role selection, legal preparation, infiltration, exfiltration, de-escalation, evasion, and escape for clandestine protest activities. It is absorbing and surprisingly practical.

It is a short read. After page 100 it’s all checklists. If you don’t want to read 100 pages, I don’t blame you, so let your phone accessibility app read it to you while you work or walk your dog. You can do this easily on Apple² or Android³.

The 2023 Investigation Manual is a wealth of tips and advice written by seasoned protesters and it is a fascinating text. This is just a little of what you’ll learn from reading it:

• Enabling FileVault encryption is simple on an Apple computer. On a Windows or Linux device, your best option for encryption is a third-party application called Veracrypt.

• The simplest way to protect your communication is to use an encrypted app like Signal.

• For high-risk research, it is recommended to use the TOR browser.

• If you are planning to bring a smartphone on your investigation, it makes a great primary navigation device, but it is important to have backups as well.

• If you are set on needing a phone during your investigation, the best thing you can do is to use a burner phone. The document provides instructions for this.

• When making backup plans, consider that not every time something goes wrong is an emergency.

• It is helpful to use the PACE planning system to create a Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency option for any mission critical element.

• For large items you will use in the field, avoid bright colours and reflective material. Earth tones are the best, and dark grey is a favourite of many investigators. Surprisingly, black stands out, even in the dark, and especially if you are hit with a light.

• Avoid unnecessary microphones, cameras, and GPS units on electronics. A smart device like an Apple Watch could be spying on your team through the microphone and tracking you with GPS and it is unnecessary in an investigation.

• The DxE Press Handbook gives an in-depth look at press pitching for investigations and other actions.

There are other manuals, and I suggest you look at them also.

There are Amnesty International’s Civil Disobedience Toolkit, PFLAG’s Recommendations for Protesting document, and Microcosm Publishing’s Direct Action Handbook: A Guide to Organizing & Protesting Safely.

There may well be many more that I don’t know, but this 2023 Investigation Manual is free, comprehensive, and detailed. And it’s a good place to start. Consider reading them all.

I'm just so sick and tired of all this winning.

That’s it for today.

Best,
G. A.

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1. Greenberg, A. (2023, October 19). The activists teaching others how to go undercover in America's meat industry. WIRED. https://www.wired.com/story/dxe-animal-agriculture-investigation-guide/

2. To listen to the manual on iPhone (using Books app or Speak Selection):

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content.

2. Turn on Speak Selection or Speak Screen.

3. Paste the text into Notes, Pages, or any app, then:

   • Highlight it and tap Speak, or

   • Swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen to have the whole screen read aloud.

3. To listen to the manual on Android (using Google’s Read Aloud Feature/Google Play Books):

1. Upload the PDF to your Google Play Books library (https://play.google.com/books).

2. Open the Play Books app and find your uploaded PDF.

3. Tap the three-dot menu, then choose Read Aloud

4. Note: Not all PDFs are supported, especially scanned ones or image-based files.