Look, I’m in favor of these protests and I think it’s time for state governments to acknowledge the post-lockdown reality. But the letter this article is about is truly nuts. What follows are extracts from it.
It starts by citing scientifically verifiable data that minorities are more at risk from COVID-19. Leave aside the polemical attribution of this to “white supremacy” as opposed to historical socioeconomic injustice. 
The letter then goes on to state that the protests are not “risky for COVID-19 transmission.” But hang on...
It follows up by stating that — wait for it — we should “prepare for an increased number of infections in the days following a protest.” Did the authors even read what they wrote?
So these healthcare professionals think protests both will and will not spread COVID-19. Couldn’t they have simply said, with ample justification, that the virus was dissipating, states were opening up anyway, and Floyd was too big a crime not to allow mass gatherings?
Put it another way: I’d have nodded along with anyone who said raiding a state capital with guns because you can’t get your hair did or buy lawn fertilizer was not the same as violating lockdown rules because a cop murdered a black man on video and enough is enough.
And I think a lot of people would have, too. This letter, though...
