Seeing all sides

Of course, the protests did initiate the activities that led to both police brutality and vandalism, but it might do well to realize that there are three components to protests, not two: the protesters, the police and the thugs, most of whom are not there to protest, but to cause trouble for its own sake.

The vast majority of protesters are peaceful; the vast majority of police officials are trying to keep the peace and quell potential violence. But the videos we have seen are mostly of riotous action. Both thuggery and police brutality are legitimate concerns, and depending on our biases, we tend to see only one of two sides, typically taking one while stigmatizing the other. Unfortunately, all this overshadows the legitimate reason for the protests themselves.  

I was involved with the Vietnam protests in the ’60s. For the most part they were peaceful, but when the thugs came out of the woodwork, it only provided an excuse for increased crackdowns, and that only ramped up the violence.

“The game has stepped up,” wrote Mr. Grocott. Indeed it has, due in large part to Trump purposely instilling fear into the populous, which in turn causes resistance and a push back, thus escalating the problem.

If we only had a real leader with a calming voice of reason.

Kent Lauder

Burlingame