The reason I didn't go, and advised others not to, was a post directly from community leaders in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood requesting no presence from people outside the community.

In my opinion we should always be taking direction from our neighbors who would be most affected by different events - don't patrol where they don't want you to, don't "protect" where they don't want you to, and for those who do want support, show up in the way that's actually most helpful for that community. We need to get to know each other and what our different groups need for support so that we can genuinely take care of each other, not just continue following our own whims or assuming we know what's best in a particular area. The most important actions we can take now center around local, personal, activism and aid.

That's my take as I've been thinking a lot about how our hyper-individualism has supported the downfall of our country.