For months, Reese Monson, who helps organize security for the hundreds of protesters who gather in downtown Portland, Oregon, every night, has advised them to use shields made of plywood, pool noodles and 55-gallon drums — tools to deflect the riot-control measures used by the police.
Now, Monson, a leader in the city’s Black Lives Matter movement, said they were considering a new kind of shield when they go out to demonstrate against racial injustice: bulletproof vests.
"Whatever body armor you can find, we need that,” Monson said. "Whatever you can protect yourself with, we need that. Right now is a time of either life or death.”
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