Does 50501 call the police at their protests
Executive summary
50501 presents itself as a decentralized, grassroots movement whose local events are run by independent volunteers and which officially promotes nonviolence and a no-weapons policy [1] [2] [3]. Reporting shows 50501 organizers warned demonstrators to expect heightened law-enforcement and even federal presence at some actions [4], and local protests have involved police arrests and tactical responses — but the sources do not show a single, movement-wide practice of "calling the police" as an organizing norm [5] [6].
1. What 50501 says about how its protests are run
The national 50501 site and affiliated event pages state that the movement is grassroots and that "all local events are organized by independent volunteers," a structure that implies decentralized decision-making about logistics and safety rather than a centrally mandated approach to coordinating with law enforcement [1] [2]. The national organization also publicly frames its actions as nonviolent and enforces a no-weapons policy for affiliated groups, signaling an intent to avoid escalation and to set standards for behaviour at demonstrations [3].
2. What organizers warned participants to expect on the ground
Media coverage of major 50501 days of action recorded specific organizer advisories telling participants to be prepared for increased law-enforcement presence and, in some locations, federal actors like ICE; that advisory appears geared to alert protesters to the reality of policing at demonstrations rather than to instruct them to summon police [4]. That public warning is consistent with a movement aware of potential confrontations and of the heightened security footprint at large, coordinated protests.
3. What actually happened at local protests (police were present and arrests occurred)
Local reporting from Los Angeles documents that 50501-affiliated actions were largely peaceful during daylight hours but later saw clashes with police, fireworks and projectiles, dispersal orders, tear gas or other force by federal agents, and multiple arrests — concrete instances in which police were actively present and engaged, not merely notified after the fact [5] [6]. Those accounts demonstrate that police involvement at 50501 events has been a real on-the-ground factor in some cities, even when the national movement emphasizes nonviolence.
4. Did 50501 as an organization "call the police" at their protests?
The sources do not provide evidence that the national 50501 organization has a policy of calling police to their demonstrations or that it centrally instructs local groups to contact law enforcement; instead, the movement’s materials stress decentralized local control [1] [2]. At the same time, local organizers — who run events independently — may choose their own safety strategies, which can include coordinating with police, hiring private security, relying on trained volunteer "peacekeepers," or explicitly avoiding police engagement; the reporting about the Salt Lake incident shows the national group will publicly disavow and cut ties with local affiliates that violate movement rules [3]. Because local autonomy is central to 50501, a blanket “yes” or “no” about calling police across the whole movement is not supported by available sources.
5. Where ambiguity and risk remain
Reporting documents situations where individuals in “peacekeeper” roles used force and where local groups diverged from national policy, culminating in the national organization severing ties with the Salt Lake affiliate after a protest shooting — an episode that underscores how decentralized groups can make choices (about security, contact with police, or private armed monitors) that the national body disavows [3]. Likewise, warnings from organizers that ICE or police may be present [4] and the examples of arrests in Los Angeles [5] [6] show significant variability from city to city; the available sources do not catalogue how often local organizers proactively contact police in advance versus deliberately avoiding such contact.
6. Bottom line
Available reporting supports this conclusion: 50501’s national leadership does not appear to run a centralized policy of "calling the police" for its demonstrations and emphasizes nonviolence and decentralized local organization [1] [2] [3]; nonetheless, police and federal agents have been present and have intervened at some 50501 events, and local organizers — acting independently — have sometimes engaged with law enforcement or used security arrangements that led to police involvement [4] [5] [6]. The sources do not resolve how frequently local groups contact police ahead of time, so that specific question remains unverified by the material provided.