protest suppression is treason. the people have a right to be heard. it is their country. my country, our country. citizens who are not very wealthy are usually not listened to so they must be heard via assertive acts, such as public protests. in places where people do not have a legal right to be heard is even more of a reason to protest.

...this does not mean people have or should have the right to riot. if the "rioting" is intelligently focused, maybe; but it rarely is. (and- is "intelligently focused rioting" an oxymoron?) the fucktards that indiscriminately trash small privately owned businesses and cars, and destroy entire neighborhoods and many innocent lives... they are working against the legitimate protesters, and working against Freedom and Justice. they're often just opportunists that not only did not come to work for justice, but apparently have no desire for it; or sometimes they're just a combination of angry and stupid... in any case they assure that the cause of the protest will be rejected, by association, by much of the population who sees it on the news.

- and i am not referring to clashes with police. these can be called riots, but usually it's actually people defending themselves and their world against oppression. if the police (or military, etc) come to suppress the non-violent protest, then a clash is inevitable. the police in these situations are fighting against the people they are paid to protect...terrorizing their fellow citizens and abusing the power they've been entrusted with. fighting against justice within their own country and, in the usa at least, profoundly compromising the sanctity of the constitution. and everyone with open eyes knows the police (and branches of the military when, unfortunately for them, forced into such a situation) are very often responsible for protests turning into riots. they have the power to defuse the anger and the tension but they choose not to -in fact often antagonizing toward escalation.

. . . one thing i observed in watching so many riot and protest videos (well over 100) was acts of kindness and humanity on the part of cops in other countries in contrast to my own (usa). obviously there is plenty of police barbarism around the world (noted: mexico, england, hong kong...) and i noted some touching moments of decent cops here, in oregon, texas and wisconsin... but generally, i see a humanity in many other places, even in the worst of situations -when they are ordered to fight against their own people; as opposed to the robo hate machines all over this country who apparently relish the opportunity to hurt their fellow citizens, humanity having been "trained" out of them.
...just an observation.