I guess it was kind of a coincidence- the concert was happening a few blocks over from a NATO protest, and the music kind of turned the protest rally into a riot. Hard. Core.

If they simply DON'T send in the riot squad, the kids burn out, go home, no one gets hit, someones insurance takes care of what private property gets damaged. Maybe some fights and stuff, but the kids are looked at as foolish and the cops don't look like dicks.

When are they gonna learn?

I detest rioters. Juvenile fanatics rampaging for what effect? Nothing.

I detest rioters. Juvenile fanatics rampaging for what effect? Nothing.

This depends very much on the context, sure some protests by extremists of all kinds are just.. wrong, and sure many protests or riots dont actually help anything either, but if you look at things like Tiananmen Square riots there are times when something just needs to be done. And perhaps, as is the case in most cases, the goverment doesnt do a 180 degree turn, But widespread malcontent and civil unrest cant be ignored indefinatly, and so they do have an effect, even if its not an instant thing. We all have the image of one man facing 4 tanks burned into our collective memory, and to anyone who wants public support again, its the kind of situation you'll want to avoid

You need music to make a concert...

...good thing Farhad and deathcow are always around to remind us just how stupid everyone else is........

Protesting I agree with, peacefully showing disagreement with certain aspects of society. You will remember that Tiananmen Square also started out peacefully and it's only after the army moved in to quell opposition did a actual riot take place.

Rioting in the sense I am talking is when people attack private property, or wreck a McDonald's or a Starbucks or people's lively hood becuase of one issues or another. It makes you look irrational and instantly the other party will not listen to you, this is what is commonly seen at the G8, IMF, and WTO meetings. There are countless other groups that work from within to institute change.

I don't speak of this merely as such, but because I have seen peaceful rallys for education and Palestinian issues degrade to violent confrontations with police and subsequently riot police and a ton of damage was done to public buildings and businesses close by because there were elements of anarchists, people who wanted to stir trouble and general dicks. The issues we were out there for the day were lost, on the day we were reported as rioters who wrecked property and buildings...

So yeah... rioters = stupid.

a bit surreal!

I'm inspired to post a historic response video to this, in which a possible riot was stopped by a beautiful speech... as soon as I have a space in my submission queue