[pstuart]

Here's the thing: I'm not advocating for violence and neither are most of "us". This violence is not because of the protest, it's because of interlopers.

You only see these protests as exercises in violence and mayhem, which is exactly what the powers that be want. It completely delegitimizes these First Amendment protests in the eyes of many.

Much of that violence comes from interlopers who hijack the effort, and of that violence is manufactured by outsiders intentionally stirring up shit. The recent "antifa" account that was really a white nationalist organization comes to mind.

Consistently framing the protesters as being the ones who are inciting or participating in this violence can only be disingenuous at best.

Again, violence is bad, m'kay? We get that. It also means that it's bad when it comes from the police as well.

Boycotting is a luxury, and is a dilute and indirect route to change. Perhaps they should just calm down and file a complaint with the police department and a manager will straighten everything out just right?