[pezh0re]

Last night's atmosphere stood in stark contrast to the evening prior. I think it's due almost entirely to how the state troopers interacted with the crowds. They were in their normal, non-body armor uniforms. They walked among the crowd, exchanged laughs, and generally set the mood at ease. By respecting the protesters, the tensions were lessened - the situation, deescalated. At the same time, the riot ready police were a mile away, ready to take action if required.

Compare that to police in full armor, with tactical weapons trained at the crowd, perched atop armored vehicles... It's no surprise to me that things got so far out of hand on Wednesday, but were completely different on Thursday.