Primera Línea


Primera Línea is the name for a loose collective of protesters dedicated to physically confronting Chilean riot police in the context of the 2019–20 Chilean protests. In the words of a member "it's about contesting power". The Primera Línea is made up of an assortement of individual citizens and grassroots organizations called "clans", lacking central authority. A wide range of sympathetic organizations support Primera Línea providing them with aid, food and legal advice. Members are of diverse backgrounds, including labourers, immigrants, university students and sports fans.
Primera Línea has been accused by authorities and some mass media of being behind many misdemeanour, yet other people recognise their contributions to shield ordinary protesters from police violence. On March 3, a group of Primera Línea was rounded up and detained by Carabineros enforcing a newly drafted law against barricades. Subsequently, only one of the 44 detained was kept in preventive detention, the remaining people were set free but required to report and sign-in twice a month. In this context, the president of the Supreme Court of Chile, Guillermo Silva and National Prosecutor Jorge Abbott, have both declared that being part of Primera Línea does not constitute a crime in itself. Among the 44 detained, four had criminal records: two for theft; one for robbery; one previously sentenced for drug dealing, domestic violence, carrying butterfly knives in public, street fighting and causing minor injuries.
Members of Primera Línea tend to assume distinct roles, such as shield-bearers, stone-throwers, tear gas grenade extinguishers, slingers, laser pointers, and tear gas medics. Among these the laser pointers are the most numerous, their role consisting in disrupting police sight, yet there are cases where surveillance drones have been downed by the laser pointers.