[Niten]

Of course vandalism is a form of violence.

I haven't yet read into the details of this case, and I may end up siding with the protestors once I have. But I do not abide the corruption of language for whatever political ends.

[whimsicalism]

I don't really have a dog in this fight.

I have never understood violence to mean property damage, rather than physical harm to someone. It may be that the dictionaries define it differently, but that is certainly not the colloquial usage.

[spoonjim]

So if someone is arrested for spray painting graffiti on a building you'd call them a "violent criminal"?