Two thoughts crossed my mind when I heard this news. The first thought was in response to the fact that Ted Wheeler is pretty much hated by everyone, including

Two thoughts crossed my mind when I heard this news. The first thought was in response to the fact that Ted Wheeler is pretty much hated by everyone, including protesters and government entities alike, at this point. This makes me question whether him getting tear gassed was intentional to try and draw sympathy from the crowd with a staged show of solidarity. The man himself said this: > Wheeler then addressed the much larger crowd from a raised balcony, saying “I am here tonight to stand with you.” And here's a journalists take from the scene that night (courtesy of Kednicma): https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1286158630161494016 https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1286158630161494016 My second thought was that things would have moved along much more peacefully if the protesters were armed. Thus far, the most peaceful protests I've heard about were ones where the protesters were well armed and not engaging in acts of violence beyond vandalism. Examples being [0]Stony Mountain and protests at the Oklahoma Governor's home. [0] https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/armed-protesters-make-statement-during-march-at-stone-mountain-park https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/armed-protesters-make-state... [1] https://oklahoman.com/article/5665067/armed-protesters-peacefully-march-on-governors-mansion https://oklahoman.com/article/5665067/armed-protesters-peace...