I think the distinction is pretty straight forward... > Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate di

I think the distinction is pretty straight forward... > Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. ...if the disturbance is commenced, it is then termed a riot. Now you might say "Arrest those people in the crowd actually committing crimes during the riot.". ...but the obvious counter-argument there is that since they are assaulting police officers with rocks, bats, etc... then there's no way to do that safely for officers. The protests seem pretty well segregated between the peaceful crowd before midnight, and then the violent crowd after midnight after the order to disperse is made. What's strange to me is why the same violent participants are released from jail each morning to participate in the riot again the next night. This seems like a significant disconnect between the police action and the prosecutors office/local judges. I would love to know more about the conversations going on behind the scenes between those two groups.