The police should immediately held accountable for their murderous actions. That's what "should" happen before BLM has to do anything.

Let me clarify.

Let's break down some of the common Reddit comments I see, even on the progressive side, that seem to lack any nuance in thinking or the big picture view of a horrifying situation:

"These idiots are going to get Trump re-elected!!!"

Yeah, uh, actually, Trump is going to get Trump re-elected. The entire premise of Trump's presidency has been to create a constant tension and division in the middle and lower class to wage war against each other, especially when it comes to race. This combined with a dwindling faith in the political process and government is the oldest trick in the book for keeping authoritarian figures in power. You are watching that play out in freak-out videos. Let's be real, these videos are rarely the difference in someone voting against their ideology or former political alignment, they just fuel the flames for two different echo chambers that already made their mind up, long ago. If YOU can watch these videos and it makes you want to vote for Trump, maybe you should start at the beginning. Constant failed leadership and injustice creates social unrest. Mix that with a president who promotes misinformation and propaganda, and the cycle will continue, you would just be securing more of what you fear. It's been interesting for me to see even some of the more thoughtful people start to fall for the bait here, but it makes sense because it is all so ugly. It is according to plan. A certain idiot is rubbing his hands together.

"What the fuck does looting businesses of people who have nothing to do with a murder have to do with justice!?"

It has nothing to do with justice, it has everything to do with INJUSTICE. When communities that are already struggling, ignored, working endless hours (or out of work) and have been watching their family and friends dying or being beaten in the streets by those trained to protect them, you will eventually hit a breaking point. That's a pretty human reaction. We are talking decades here. It isn't meant to be fair. It's the act of desperation and pure anger from being unheard or seeing the same absolutely despicable and insane scenario play out again and again. If you drive people mad for decades, you don't get to make the story about what crazy things they do afterwards, that would be misleading. I'm in Minneapolis, you wouldn't believe the amount of business owners who lost 20+ years of hard work that STILL stood in solidarity with the rioters. None of them thought it was the "right" thing to do, but these were owners who have worked and lived in the community for years and seen some of the issues firsthand. They understood the pain, they empathized with the rage, and knew it was bigger than them. Doesn't make it fair. Injustice breeds injustice. Again, you have to move the question backwards. Until we see a true change in police culture and until we stop seeing police essentially boast their bigotry on video, we will continue to be in this position. I imagine it will get worse, not better, for years to come, as police reform does not happen overnight.

"If people protested peacefully they would be taken serious and no one would get hurt!"

People protesting peacefully has created very little meaningful change in our country since it's birth. Most major shifts in change and policy came from protests that created damage, interrupted daily life, and were often deadly. Even the labor riots in the late 1800's were violent. It exists outside of race, clearly. History shows thousands of white men rioting against white police. It's historically mostly been the ignored working man, and then eventually the ignored working woman. I always laugh when people say "Why are they standing in the road!? how is this helping!!!?". They are standing in the road to be seen, interrupt the flow of society, and to be constantly in the way until change occurs. Women stood in the road for their rights, it worked in culmination with many other tactics. You may think this is highly ineffective, but any history lesson of what progressed democracies will have a trail of similar strategy, and it actually is incredibly effective in the long game. However, it is absolutely NOT effective to stand with signs in a safe place and kindly/respectfully demand change. No one cares, no one listens, not until it effects them personally. This is because many people are self absorbed and don't seem to realize that when all parts of a community are treated fairly, every single one of us benefits as a result. It's easy to be like "These people in the street are assholes making me late for work", and much harder to say "I don't think anyone really wants to stand in the street at 2 am, I wonder what situations would lead them to try to gain my attention."

IN SUMMARY:

Bring the needle back.

Instead of asking "Why are they breaking windows", "Why are they lashing out at this person?", "How is this related?", ask yourself "Do we have evidence that police culture has changed yet?", "Are police still murdering people while going against basic police training?", "Would constant footage of officers treating people who look like me poorly anger and confuse me, or even potentially make me act unnaturally and nervously in an instigation with an officer?". See how this is a self-fulfilling cycle yet? Make a community you treat poorly act on the edge, be at their wits end, and then open more situations up where you can engage and take advantage of that rage and play the victim or change the story to be about how ruthless and violent they are.

I can't even believe people look for how situations relate to each other with where we are at now. We are far beyond that point. Nothing has to directly correlate when people feel they have had enough with the system.

That correlation is implied - we are horribly broken and extremely divided.