When I put the two sides on the scale - the things being protested and the damage done by protesters - typically it's very easy for me to write off a couple burned cars or broken windows, even if I'm not a fan of broken windows or burned cars. Because typically these protests in the US are over things like reckless killings.

All of the US protests in the last 10 years have been mild. Sure a couple of Waymos get burned up, but they are easy to capture :)

Get all those folks marching, you aren't going to get good decisions out of everyone.

But the expression of the people is hard for those in power to ignore.