I’ve been to two protest BLM protest and no kings day celebration protest. BLM protest was intimidating at first because I Parked close to the event and police had us surrounded and were gasing us, but that ended with them putting their shield and bats down as symbolic way of ending hostilities. No Kings day was way more chill and no confrontation with authorities that I witnessed but some happened before I got there, other than that it was mostly talking to people and expressing yourself in public.
There’s fun stories
Sometimes it can be fun, I’ve had a fair bit of fun during some rallies by handing my megaphone to loads of different people, we had a counter protest back in April that turned into a dance party too.
I’ve also been to plenty of scary ones. I had one where I had to run away from violent cops and change into a different outfit behind dumpsters. Sometimes the adrenaline can be fun if it’s a more spicy action, usually the nerves go away once you get started.