Last night was the first time I have been to a protest that was not entirely peaceful. There are some things you know in your head but can’t understand until you see it first hand.

If you are white and think what is happening is wrong, I really encourage you to go out and protest if you haven’t already.

Being white, I know that I am incredibly privileged. But what struck me the most last night is that I’ve never seen a police office instigate violence outside of a video.

Last night I saw police officers in full riot gear chase down individuals and spray pepper spray directly in their face because something that person said made them angry.

I think that if you haven’t been pepper sprayed or tear gassed before, you should know what it feels like. And you should know how enraging it is to experience that pain because of a person that you pay to protect you.

That being said, there were protesters that were acting poorly. At the most minor it was people throwing water bottles and at the most severe (from what I saw) it was bricks through windows or another human being getting mildly injured at the hands of the protesters.

To anyone who wants to make that mean that the protesters are violent thugs, you should know that EVERY time that happened the group shouted “PEACE”. If they could identify the culprit they went and talked to them and encouraged them to stop.

People are angry. They have faced a lifetime of the injustice that I felt last night because of the way they were born. It’s time for change. It’s long past time for change. Everyone should be speaking up.

And if you are physically able and white, show up. You should know what the police act like when you’re in the middle of a group of people that they do not consider to be human.

One last thought, if you’re going to show up to yell at protesters and side with the police, you are the problem. Go the fuck home.