When a moment calls for action, speed matters. Neighbors need to find each other. Voices need to be heard. And nobody has time to download an app, create an account, or figure out which channel to join.

The Antifascist Fun Brigade just launched a tool that solves this: Flash Protest—a free, web-based push-to-talk system designed for spontaneous community coordination.

What Flash Protest Does

Flash Protest enables fast, local, real-time coordination for spontaneous gatherings. An organizer pins a location on a map, and the system spawns a geofenced communication room with:

• Push-to-talk audio (walkie-talkie style)
• Live chat for text-based coordination
• Safety-oriented participation hierarchy with distributed responsibility

That’s it. No apps. No accounts. No friction.

Design Principles

The feature was built around constraints that matter in real-world situations:

Web-Only

No app store. No downloads. No updates. Open a browser, tap a link, you’re in. This matters when every second counts and not everyone has the same phone.

Free to Use

No paywalls. No premium tiers. No “upgrade for more participants.” Community safety tools should be free. Period.

No User Authentication

No login. No email. No phone number. When people need to coordinate quickly, asking them to create an account is asking them not to participate.

Mobile-First

Designed for the device people actually have in their hands at a gathering—their phone. The interface works on any screen size, but mobile is the primary experience.

Rapid Scalability

The architecture handles growth from 5 participants to 10 to 1,000. Flash situations don’t wait for infrastructure to catch up.

How It Works

1. Organizer pins a location on the map
2. System creates a geofenced room tied to that location
3. Participants join via link (no login required)
4. Push-to-talk enables voice coordination (hold to talk, release to listen)
5. Live chat provides text backup for those who can’t use audio
6. Safety hierarchy distributes responsibility across trusted participants

The geofencing means the room is tied to physical space. You’re coordinating with the people around you, not a global channel of strangers.

Why Push-to-Talk

Text is slow. Phone calls are one-to-one. Group calls are chaos.

Push-to-talk solves all three problems:

• Fast: Hold button, speak, release. No typing.
• One-to-many: Everyone in the room hears you.
• Orderly: Only one person speaks at a time.

This is the same model that’s worked for emergency responders, event coordinators, and communities worldwide. Walkie-talkie communication scales in a way that other modalities don’t.

Safety-Oriented Design

Flash Protest isn’t just about communication—it’s about safe communication.

The participation hierarchy distributes responsibility so no single person becomes a bottleneck or target. Multiple trusted participants can moderate, mute bad actors, or shut down the room if needed.

The no-authentication model also protects participants. No account means no data trail linking a person’s identity to their participation.

Why We Need This Now: The Case for Abolishing ICE

I used to think ICE could be reformed. I no longer believe that.

The agency’s leadership and culture have proven rotten. The funding could be put to better use. Immigration enforcement should return to a more limited scope under Customs and Border Protection—the way it worked before 2003.

This isn’t a radical position. It’s historically grounded. The United States has abolished federal agencies before when they outlived their purpose or became captured by dysfunction.

Historical Precedent: Agencies We’ve Abolished

The Interstate Commerce Commission (1887–1995)

The ICC was America’s first independent regulatory agency, created to regulate railroads and prevent monopolistic abuse. By the 1970s, economists like Milton Friedman documented how the agency had been captured by the very industries it was meant to regulate. The ICC kept rates artificially high and stifled competition.

After decades of criticism, President Clinton called for eliminating the ICC in his 1995 State of the Union address, describing it as an “outdated and unneeded program.” Congress passed the ICC Termination Act of 1995 with bipartisan support. After 108 years, the agency closed its doors on December 31, 1995, with residual functions transferred to a smaller Surface Transportation Board.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (1940–1985)

The CAB regulated airline fares and routes for decades. By the 1970s, it was clear the agency was keeping ticket prices high and preventing new airlines from competing. Senator Ted Kennedy, assisted by Stephen Breyer (later a Supreme Court Justice), held hearings exposing the CAB’s dysfunction.

The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 began phasing out the CAB’s authority. The agency was formally abolished on January 1, 1985—the first federal regulatory regime since the 1930s to be totally dismantled.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (1933–2003)

Before ICE existed, the INS handled both immigration services and enforcement under the Department of Justice for 70 years. After 9/11, Congress dissolved the INS and split its functions into three agencies: USCIS (services), CBP (border), and ICE (interior enforcement).

The rationale for creating ICE was to separate services from enforcement. But the result has been an agency with a unique combination of civil and criminal authorities that has grown far beyond its original mission—and without the accountability mechanisms that might constrain it.

Why ICE Is Different: An Agency Beyond Reform

The agencies above were abolished because their regulatory missions became obsolete or counterproductive. ICE’s problem is different: it’s not that the mission is obsolete—it’s that the agency has become an engine of human rights abuse.

The numbers are damning:

• 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025—nearly three times 2024’s total and the most since 2004
• A 2024 Physicians for Human Rights report found 95% of examined deaths were preventable with appropriate medical care
• Senator Jon Ossoff’s investigation documented 510 credible reports of human rights abuse across 25 states, including 41 reports of physical and sexual abuse
• The detained population grew 75% in 2025 to nearly 66,000—while inspections plummeted
• Nearly 74% of those detained have no criminal convictions

At facilities like Fort Bliss, advocates have documented beatings, sexual abuse by officers, and coercive threats to pressure detained immigrants into self-deporting. The Krome detention facility has “trended downward” on every standard, with people sleeping on floors without bedding.

This isn’t a few bad apples. It’s systemic.

What Abolition Actually Means

Abolishing ICE doesn’t mean open borders. It means returning to something closer to the pre-2003 model:

1. Border enforcement stays with CBP—the agency that already handles ports of entry and the Border Patrol
2. Immigration services stay with USCIS—processing visas, asylum claims, and naturalization
3. Interior enforcement is dramatically scaled back—no more workplace raids, no more detention-industrial complex, no more separating families for civil immigration violations

The United States enforced immigration laws before ICE existed. It can do so again—with more humanity and less abuse.

As the Yale Law Journal noted, “Commentators have noted that U.S. Customs and Border Protection, not ICE, is responsible for border enforcement, so abolishing ICE alone would not end the ability of the United States to enforce its immigration laws.”

The $8+ billion currently spent on ICE could fund actual community needs: schools, healthcare, housing, and the kind of mutual aid that makes communities stronger.

Public Opinion Is Shifting

Support for abolishing ICE has grown significantly. A January 2026 poll found 42% of Americans now support abolition, up from 25% in 2018. A YouGov poll found 52% of Americans disapprove of how ICE is handling its job.

The Abolish ICE movement grew from a hashtag in 2017 to a position held by members of Congress, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who made it central to her 2018 campaign. The movement argues that ICE has “brutalized communities, wasted billions of dollars, and failed to increase compliance with immigration laws.”

Helping Your Neighbors

The tagline says it all: Help your neighbors.

When ICE conducts raids in your community, when families are being separated, when neighbors need to coordinate quickly to ensure safety—you need tools that work immediately.

Flash Protest is that tool. Web-based. Free. No login. Mobile-first. Scalable.

When something happens in your community—whether it’s a spontaneous demonstration, a mutual aid response, or any situation requiring rapid coordination—speed and solidarity matter most.

The Antifascist Fun Brigade continues their mission of providing community tools with humor and heart. This one’s designed for the moments when neighbors need to find each other fast.

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Try it at antifascistfunbrigade.com/flash-protest