How do we validate allies?

How do we know which allies either weren't asked for their support or were, in fact, actively asked to mind their own business?

Good allies are a good thing. Bad allies are a bad thing. Everyone can easily come up with their own example of a good, credible person or group backing another good group or person and having it work. Everyone can also easily come up with cases from their own life experience where a particularly odious, narcissistic, arrogant, weak, or ignorant ally insisted on "backing" some group or person leading to a backfire against that group or person.

I always question self-identified allies, people being people. You can get good allies if you vet them. But the self-identified, self-elected allies are usually bad news. They're often "hangers on," or attention seekers, or even grifters. In general, I'm for people and groups speaking for themselves. Allies should ask before volunteering support and, when questioned, should be expected to show proof that they were asked. To me, the best ally is usually a GoFundMe contributor, not a keyboard commando or a marcher trying to grab the mics the legacy media puts on site at protests.