yes. riots do not just happen spontaneously and there’s surprisingly little scrutiny of the ways in which police instigate and add fuel to the dynamics which produce rioting.
that’s especially since riots of this sort have followed the same basic pattern for at least a century.
let’s set aside the fact that none of this would be happening in kenosha had two police officers had the forbearance not to shoot someone 7 times in front of their children. the police department *chose* to respond to the initial protests in a draconian fashion.
To meet protests with riot gear, tear gas, rubber bullets and armored cars is to vastly escalate the confrontation. Right then and there you’ve created the conditions for things to spiral out of control.
And you know what, the police know this, as we’ve seen at the armed protests of lockdown orders, where police keep the peace by using a light touch in terms of action and appearance.
I know this is a shitpost but I am going to answer it anyway. “‘Toughness” is not an effective tool for deescalating a crowd. If the goal is to prevent serious property damage, then mindless recourse to militarized tactics is the worst thing you could do.
To sum up, if you’re trying to prevent a riot, you have to look at the actions of law enforcement as well as the protesters/rioters themselves. neither is isolated from the other, and the behavior of the former as a good amount of influence on that of the latter.
