I vaguely remember a texting app being talked about a year or so ago I think they were using in Taiwan during their protests that worked like a peer to peer network through the bluetooth on phones to pass messages. Can't for the life of me remember what it was called though. That app would work with or without cellphone towers.
I thought the fake construction worker part was interesting myself. Were they doing this all during Trump's presidency also? If so, it could be why Trump plays YMCA. The Village People also had a fake construction worker.