I don't necessarily disagree with any of that in theory, but on some level I think its hard to rationalize away what comes with a mass of people. I know guns exist, and its possible that I could get gunned down going to work tomorrow, but its a lightning strike event - I can't see it coming, and I can't fully wrap my mind around the odds, so I can go about my day. With online stuff, I can always walk away, mute, block, etc. I have some means of getting away from it. A crowd is something that I can see coming, and I have some reasonable expection that things can turn ugly, and when things do, I'm largely helpless. Its like having a bonfire next to the forest - I don't want to tell people not to have the fire, but I also shouldn't be anywhere near it, because it has the likely potential to become dangerous and I am powerless to stop it.

I think thats a human response to seeing a large crowd. Zombie movies wouldn't be scary if we weren't hardwired to fear large unruly crowds on some level. So with protests, I'm not saying they can't do it, but I am saying I don't like it, and I don't want to be anywhere near it when it inevitably goes south.

I would also say, I would have more comfort with large protests if I felt that those causing property damage were actually prosecuted. Some get slaps on the wrist, but do most? I dunno, I don't get that impression. You show me large scale proptery damage, regardless of the cause, and that quickly turns me against it, even if I agree with the majority of the issues being protested against.