I originally wrote this back on June 2, 2020, entering the second week of protests:

I’m seeing an awful lot of over-simplification here regarding the makeup of the protestors, especially the rioters.

The truth is, like nearly every mass protest, this one is a mixture. There are angry Blacks, tired of the status quo that has remained unchanged over decades, despite the civil rights laws.

There are angry Whites, who understand that enough is enough, and that Whites must stand side by side with Blacks if any change is to occur. Most of these two groups are relatively peaceful, though it is simplistic to say all. Things have a way of getting out of control, and violence erupts against cops, the media, property.

Then there are the rest of them. They form the minority by far, but are the ones getting the most press attention and are naturally the most visible. These are anarchists. Many come from other cities. Over the weekend, about 15% of New York arrests were non New Yorkers. About 20% of Minneapolis arrests were non Minnesotans. These people have nothing to do with George Floyd or Black rights. Many are anti government. Many are against this specific government. Many are White Supremacists, as attested to by many arrests. The same is true of many Antifa protestors. All these groups and movements have a radical and militant arm, whose job it is join protest movements for their own, unrelated causes and create anarchy. They are literally professional agitators.

Thus, you have the Bugaloo Bois in their Hawaiian shirts. You have the Patriot Prayer, and the Proud Boys. The Antifa_US, whom Twitter suspended because of their threats to civilians (and which is a verified white supremacist group posing as Antifa). There are multiple extremist groups who use Guy Fawkes masks, on both sides.

Most of these anarchists are White. Most, not ALL but MOST of the fires, the vandalism, the looting, and protestor violence against media are from these groups, NOT the mostly peaceful Floyd protestors. We, as viewers or in some cases participants, need to understand the difference.

Finally, as was true in 2016, there are almost certainly foreign national actors, including Russians, pulling strings behind the scenes, causing further divide and violence, to swing the election and to generally destabilize.