Actor Peter Coyote warned against protests that turn into 'Republican campaign videos'?

In June 2025, a statement attributed to actor and Zen Buddhist priest Peter Coyote made the rounds in which he allegedly offered advice on how to protest in a way that avoids gatherings turning into "Republican campaign videos." The supposed statement described protests as "an invitation to a better world" and "a ceremony," and it urged protesters to practice self-discipline so as to make their demonstration more effective.

For example, a post on Facebook that included a photograph of Coyote purported to relay the statement in full (archived):

(Facebook user Peter Brouwer)

As of this writing, the post had gained 5,300 reactions and 68,000 reshares. Further, Snopes readers emailed asking whether Coyote had said these words. 

In short, the statement is correctly attributed to Coyote (more on this later).

The author started his post by saying that he was writing as he watched protests in Los Angeles fueled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids to deport immigrants. He said he had taught a class at Harvard University on the "theater of protest." The advice section of the post read:

1. Let women organize the event. They're more collaborative. They're more inclusive, and they don't generally bring the undertones of violence men do.

2. Appoint monitors, give them yellow, vests and whistles. At the first sign of violence, they blow the whistles and the real protesters sit down. Let the police take out their aggression on the anarchists and the provocateurs trying to discredit the movement.

3. Dress like you're going to church. It's hard to be painted as a hoodlum when you're dressed in clean, presentable clothes. They don't have to be fancy they just signal the respect for the occasion that you want to transmit to the audience.

4. Make your protest silent. Demonstrate your discipline to the American people. Let signs do the talking.

5. Go home at night. In the dark, you can't tell the cops from the killers. Come back at dawn fresh and rested.

In other words, the statement urged protesters to better organize and to keep the protests disciplined and nonviolent and ended with an attribution line to Coyote.

Snopes was able to identify the original statement on Substack, from an account that bore the actor's name (archived). The Substack post had received 5,585 likes, 1,093 reshares and 303 comments as of this writing. Commenters offered feedback on some of his points, and the author of the post responded, accepting it and refocusing on his main point. "What I most care about. Is people who are destroying small stores to [de]facing property and creating Republican campaign videos," one such reply read.

Coyote also confirmed in an email to Snopes that he had written the post. "If it is the piece I wrote about how to protest without becoming Republican campaign videos, yes I wrote it," he said. 

Besides acting and being a Zen Buddhist priest, Coyote is also a writer and a voice artist, voicing audiobooks and narrating documentaries.