You can say rebellion or “riot”ing is ineffective, but in a society when there is no swift justice, the people can only impose a “riot” tax. Its bad PR for the city, it scares business away, & it makes the entire police force of the area have to go through something awful too.

Peaceful protest is a permit-approved protest. It is symbolic, when there is a dialogue between the oppressed and power. We have no dialogue right now, so people turn to being heard, and doing something taxing. It’s not unprecedented, and it’s warranted.

And most of all, it forces bad police practices into the light. Already there are reports of peaceful protestors being fired on with tear gas and rubber bullets. This proves that the right to peacefully assemble was disregarded.

This isn’t new, the fight for police and prison reform is a daily peaceful fight. But when another cop murders another innocent person, knowing the societal land mine it steps on, it begs the question - maybe if the social land mine was bigger, they wouldn’t do it.

That is Minneapolis. And everywhere else there are protests. Land mines communities have warned police were buried there, if they kept misstepping. Now buildings are on fire. Don’t act surprised. That cop’s history made it clear he was corrupt. This is on those departments.

I invite police who agree with protestors to object to going to work. Show your solidarity with the justice you swore to uphold by doing so, even in the face of corrupt leadership or peers. Good cops, show yourselves. Show your commitment to justice.