the edit from above:

/e it's not the mob's job to arrest him. Mobs don't seem to be particularly interested in upholding the rule of law, they seem to be interested in mob justice. So I don't really care what their intentions truly were. I care what a reasonable person would perceive their intentions to be: hostile.

...And I too am only interested in the video evidence, and then applying deductive reasoning to it.

clearly you haven't heard of the bearhug mobs that surround people to give them an uplifting embrace, then a 5$ bill, then a slew of compliments even if they're white lies.

100%. You had several social groups that influence you at a young age. It's clear as day when you think back to middle school and high school. There's always that complete group of outcasts, covered in black, don't participate in sports or any actives, grungy looking, and not because they're poor. With pin point accuracy I can look back at my graduating year and multiple before and after and tell you who is most likley a social outcast to this day, and I'd wager they are the only ones involved in this garbage out of those years.

People will find where they fit in and naturally surround themselves with likeminded people, thus the rejects will gather just as any other group.

One person giving his actual perspective on a situation. (Unless lying, which I doubt) Also backed up by the FBI report recently. And going back multiple years saying the exact same thing.
2nd somebody giving a internet recap of how they THINK things happen (unless lying, which I doubt)

Neither do the police.

And someone has to protect the protestors.

You could certainly get me to agree to this in a limited capacity, but on the whole, policing is all about enforcing the rule of law.

Why not you pussy? If the cops are so terrible.

even if you control for only speaking about police encounters with protesters the VAST majority of those are police upholding the law. the only way to believe the opposite is to watch a compilation of bad encounters and develop confirmation bias. nationwide the police are doing an excellent job of allowing citizens to exercise their free speech.

funny tho that one side says cops are thugs who crack down on free speech too much while the other side says cops are cucks who should do more to prevent rioting and looting.

Agree. The amount of restraint these cops have is a testament alone. Yes some cases of over reaction but the majority are taking the hate stoically.

Certainly not something I could do. I smile whenever I see a video of a car running down people blocking the road so I don't think it's the job for me!

i cant imagine taking rocks or other projectiles for a living. imagine the good cops in there with families so they cant leave the job, they support the BLM cause in a general sense, while getting screamed at by a bunch of people who'd shoot you if they could get away with it for what job you have. in some cases because a person got shot by a totally different person hundreds of miles away. it's like getting screamed at as a mcdonalds cook because another cook across the country forgot someone's pickles.

cops are all bad type narratives not only solve nothing, literally nothing, but they actually put people off your cause. just as violent riots solve nothing. people credit murder charges coming in a day early with riots doing good, while the city takes years to recover. or the tax payer funds new govt buildings and repairs. "i understand rioters" is fine, "i support rioters" is just low IQ misplaced anger with historical revision.