The people shitting on the protests seem to only think the opinions of the people in power matter, and that's a really sad point of view to have. It's also very much about building consensus and community, to grow our side so we can hopefully avoid a civil war, or easily win if a minority try to push the issue. They seem to have been a good step in that direction, so it would be nice if you all assisted, rather than complaining on the internet about not getting to see people carry our your violent fantasies.

@Shivaekul also a movement tends to succeed once a critical mass of the population is actively protesting. but if people see a protest movement as violent, they’re much less likely to want to join it, (because the vast majority of people don’t want to involve themselves in violence) and it makes it easier for those in power to justify a rise in authoritarianism to “fight back” or “defend the country”

@Shivaekul this happened with American anarchism in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, and it’s why most Americans today hear “anarchist” and think “indiscriminate bomb-throwing terrorist”. this laid the groundwork for the Red Scare and all of the horrific consequences of that

for more info:

• Haymarket affair
• 1919 United States anarchist bombings
• Palmer Raids

@kasdeya Exactly, like we are finally getting through to people that ICE are cruel, violent, incompetent, and Trump is trying to use them as his secret police. We are getting through to them about his fascist tendencies, and that antifa is not a terrorist organization, that it simply means "antifascist". It is so clearly good vs evil at this point, and that is helping in winning people over to our side, which is what we need to be doing. So it's frustrating seeing people who are supposed to be on our side who are advocating for blowing all that up.