Skateboarding is now being treated by the Department of Homeland Security as a potential signal of violent intent during protests.
As we previously reported, in a recent anti-ICE protest, a demonstrator used a skateboard to smash car windows and raised it overhead like a weapon, drawing cheers from the crowd and turning the moment into a symbolic act of defiance.
That image has made its way into official bulletins issued by DHS. Internal documents obtained by WIRED reveal that officers are being advised to consider a wide range of protest behaviors as potential threats.
Alongside obvious risks like fireworks and projectiles, the agency lists activities as ordinary as livestreaming, walking in groups, and riding bikes or skateboards.
According to reports, these warnings were circulated during the “No Kings” demonstrations, which focused on immigration enforcement and federal overreach.
According to the bulletins, public anger over recent military deployments and aggressive raids has fueled widespread opposition, and DHS believes that these protests are likely to grow.
The threat assessments were acquired through public records by the nonprofit group Property of the People. In the documents, DHS describes skateboarders and cyclists not as protesters, but as scouts or agitators capable of quick movement and tactical coordination. The same documents treat common protest gear like masks, cameras, and flashlights as tools for surveillance or confrontation.
Livestreaming is grouped with doxxing, with both labeled as techniques used to intimidate or expose police officers. Even posters or slogans shared online are framed as ideological threats that could signal an intent to incite violence.
Civil liberties advocates say these warnings stretch the definition of a threat beyond recognition. Vera Eidelman, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said the government is using harmless actions and basic rights as justification for preemptive police response. She called the inclusion of skateboarding in DHS bulletins disturbing and warned that it increases the likelihood of excessive force against peaceful demonstrators.
Fusion centers play a major role in shaping how law enforcement responds to protests. These centers gather intelligence from public sources and share it with federal and local police. Their reports often contain broad claims, speculative connections, and ideological framing. Even when there is no concrete evidence of violence, they may issue alerts based on associations or patterns that suggest risk.
Ryan Shapiro, the executive director of Property of the People, says these documents reflect a strategy of targeting dissent through classification. He argues that journalism, organizing, and public expression are being treated as precursors to terrorism.
This kind of messaging primes officers to expect confrontation before a single sign is raised or chant is heard. In 2020, bulletins distributed to departments like the San Jose Police warned about coordinated attacks and referenced unverified claims such as U-Haul vans transporting weapons. That department recently paid over six hundred thousand dollars to settle complaints related to its protest response.
The DHS approach relies heavily on preemptive tactics, often based on behavior, language, or affiliations. Protesters may be flagged not for what they do but for how they appear, what they carry, or what they post online. Some fusion centers have compiled detailed profiles of demonstrators that include social media content, political views, and connections to activist groups.
In one example, a DHS file on a student activist was built partly using information from Canary Mission, a shadowy website that anonymously tracks critics of Israeli government policies. A senior official recently admitted in court that DHS has used data from that source in over one hundred such profiles.
These patterns show how tools designed for national security have been turned inward toward domestic protest. Skateboards, once symbols of movement and personal identity, are now seen as indicators of threat. Cameras and flashlights are treated as weapons of exposure. Even walking through a protest can be described as reconnaissance.
The growing list of what police are told to view as dangerous reflects a larger shift in how dissent is treated. Protests are not just monitored but actively disrupted. Intelligence bulletins shape public perception, often portraying demonstrators as threats before they even arrive. In that environment, a skateboard can become more than a skateboard. It becomes a reason for surveillance, a reason for force, and a reason for fear.