Clearly this is a fallacy of false equivalence (and follows the general pattern of “whataboutism” which, if I remember correctly, goes all the way back to the U

Clearly this is a fallacy of false equivalence (and follows the general pattern of “whataboutism” which, if I remember correctly, goes all the way back to the USSR goading the USA about lynchings and protests against attempts at integration and opposition to the Civil Rights movement way back in the ‘50s and ‘60s), but it does definitely underscore how a failure to confront these protests in a manner that is free from risk of reproach is damaging the USA’s image as a haven for democracy worldwide (which to be honest, is pretty tarnished anyway). To be fair, to me (as a foreign observer) it seems that two distinct things are going on and are being conflated by design: on the one hand one has righteous and peaceful protesters, and on the other one has opportunistic vandals who are taking advantage of the latter to cloak themselves with legitimacy or at least anonymity. The police are responding predominantly to the rioters, not the protesters, but the problem is that they cannot really distinguish between the two. Combine that with the evident militarisation of police forces in the USA and what seems to be some extraordinarily bad decision-making at higher levels and poor impulse control of some individuals at the lower level of law enforcement, and one has an explosive mix that is rife for display on the social networks that are broadcasting live worldwide.