Re: Social media is killing us
As is usual on these occasions, there were people at various levels of involvement.
Yes, a whole bunch of people were just there to protest. A significant minority of these allowed themselves to be carried along by the more hardcore elements. Probably they were also reassured by the president's lying promise to march with them.
The question is, what the leaders of this movement intended. For sure they had much bigger plans than many of the crowd.
That's how insurrection usually works. The women who tried to petition the Tsar in 1917 were, mostly, very far from card-carrying Bolsheviks. Some of those who stormed the Bastille would have called themselves loyal monarchists. The lukewarm are just carried along with the crowd, and many are appalled at the excesses that follow. But by then it's too late.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
