In my experience, "masked young white kids who instigate destruction" have been a constant presence at protests for quite a while now, and the same debate about

In my experience, "masked young white kids who instigate destruction" have been a constant presence at protests for quite a while now, and the same debate about their motivations occurs every single time. I don't doubt that in some cases, provocateurs and false flag actors exist, but there's definitely a not insubstantial amount of anarchist-leaning folks who are acting genuinely. The important thing to consider, in my mind, is whether your attention should be focused on a relatively small amount of property damage and looting, or the many, many examples of physical violence against people committed by police. Property damage is almost always a distraction, and is often intentionally used as one.