You can be against the looting and the rioting while also being against the corrupt police system in place that allows them to harm innocent people.

Being against one doesn't mean you have to support the other and I think a lot of people are attacking strawmen
[1/?]

the strawman that because you think that looting and violence shouldn't occur means that you support the police brutality going on.

There's plenty of more strawmen being attacked when it comes to these, but from what I've observed- many people who share my viewpoint
[2/?]

acknowledge that yes, these riots didn't just pop out of nowhere and happen because everyone wanted to break stuff, (not counting opportunists)

and that,

the life of a human being is definitely worth more than property.

Most people aren't contesting these points.
[3/?]

I think it should just be recognized that for some people (especially for the urban poor) is that their stores and jobs and property are also tied to their life as a whole.

They don't have any other sources of income. And from what I've read, plenty of insurance companies
[4/?]

don't actually cover damages from say, a riot. Not to mention that some of these businesses and buildings might not even be insured.

I might be wrong in what I've said above, but I think that it will be difficult for these people to recover.
[5/?]

Maybe it's not my place to speak about something like this - but I definitely don't think that burning your own community down will help the people you are trying to protect.

Sure, it sends the message, but at what cost? It hurts a lot of people, too.
[6/?]

That's not even to mention the amount of people being injured or possibly even killed in the midst of the riots by other people (not cops).

I've seen a guy light himself on fire today. Saw another get stuck on the wheels of a moving truck.
[7/?]

A husband and wife allegedly beaten up by 2x4s after they tried to defend their store.
This is just on Twitter, too. How bad might it be out there, and how worse can it get?
Sure, you can make the argument that the fires were started by agent provocateurs like in Minneapolis.
8/?

I think however that it would be unrealistic to say that it's only those undercover cops causing fires and vandalizing property.

Realistically however, rioters, including opportunists, are most likely to blame as well for the violence occurring.
[9/?]

I think it'd be unreasonable to state that "oh, they did it first so we just followed lol".

Maybe I'm wrong. I haven't participated in a riot, much less a rally - so I don't know aside from videos and clips as to how heated it could get.
[10/?]

I guess I just simply don't think that the ends justify the means here. I don't have better solutions neither. Maybe everything will turn out to be okay and people will be able to rebuild.

In the end, I hope that it'll be okay and change actually follows
[11/?]

and that whatever happens now didn't happen in vain. Maybe someday there'll be a time wherein all officers and people from all walks of life co-exist in society - wherein no one has to be afraid of the police anymore.
[12/?]

I still think that deep down inside, every person is good. I hope these cops eventually realize their mistakes and turn themselves in and be prosecuted rightly for their crimes. These systems definitely need a long overdue reform.
[13/?]

Sorry if this thread bothered you. I might be wrong on what I said, and I apologize.

Also, please don't drag people who don't want to be involved with this. While it's good that people be aware and do what they can for such things, not everyone
[14/?]

is able to mentally handle such events and might even be preoccupied with other happenings in their life.

I kind of just wrote this thread to summarize my thoughts on the matter and so I can finally calm down about it. I hope I do.
[15/?]

I don't think I'm mentally prepared to handle issues like these. Call it selfish, and I wouldn't blame you for it.

I'm the type of person to be deeply affected by things like these - I've obsessed over it since Friday morning. It's not healthy.
[16/?]

From when I'd wake up until 3 AM, I'd be reading about what's going on.

Today, I had class. I didn't even pay attention, I was just browsing on Twitter for updates and what people thought about the issue and watching livestreams of the protests.
[17/?]