I am not an American. Were the Floyd protests anywhere near as chaotic as they were portrayed in the press? I recall hearing that most protests were nonviolent, just slightly property-damaging. Thanks!

Sincerely, rambling_lunatic

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[–] Zymii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I was present at several of the protests in Portland that supposedly burnt down the city.

In all cases they were pretty mild until the police escalated. Like people were rightfully pissed but they were largely marches and chants until driven into a corner by riot cops who were all too ready to blanket downtown in tear gas and rubber bullets

There were elements that would go to the justice center and shake the fence and scream at the cops but nothing that justified the national guard showing up. Looting and such always occurred in the chaos ensuing after an extreme attempt to clamp down on peaceful protest.

[–] kriz@slrpnk.net 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Exactly. Almost everytime the chaos is when police beat and arrest peaceful protest. A lot of protest never even got off the ground, so to speak. I saw thousands gather in a park and as soon as they took their first steps to march waves of police moved in and just destroyed them.