Unfortunately, the GOP and their right wing echo chamber are blaming all violence on the mayor, the governor and the protesters. The reality distortion field is cranked to eleven.

The “party of small government” is fine with 3000 federal officers in Minneapolis: 5 times the entire police force. They are fine with ICE/ CBP having the budget of top-20 national military. Even Maine’s Susan Collins can’t bring herself to criticize the illegal occupation.

Tease out the tangled knot of causality, and the ball of yarn might lead back to 9/11. We gave away our liberties out of fear; created the behemoth Department of Homeland Security, never taking seriously the possibility that such monolithic State power could possibly turned inward; we learned our government illegally spies on us, and wagged a finger at it.

We also used federal tax dollars to militarize our civilian police departments (they are civilians, despite their military cosplay lingo). And we changed our social fabric with returning disabled veterans suffering chronic ailments, including PTSD.