HOW TO PROTEST SUCCESSFULLY

A good portion of the normal, everyday people didn't get along with the police. They abused their authority and "shook down" people frequently - often without cause.  A lot of the laws weren't enforced even-handedly. Certain groups were targeted.  This had been going on for awhile. Because of this, it wasn't uncommon for people and police to get into physical altercations, and sometimes it ended very badly.

Through all of this, however, public opinion was always mixed.  There were a LOT of people very supportive of law enforcement and the government in general. They were very vocal and public in their support.  These folks were generally a bit more affluent.  Most of the larger business-owners were very pro-police. The community had gotten to a point where it was divided based on whether you supported the police and the laws they enforced or you were antagonized by them.  The latter group began vandalizing and destroying stores and businesses that were associated with the police.  Of course, this escalated everything.  Tensions were high most of the time.

One day, a group of these thugs were throwing rocks through the windows of a store they felt didn't deal fairly with their people and a neighbor realized it, and in attempt to defend the neighbor's store, shot one of the vandals.  It ended up being a kid, and he died.

A massive protest started.  The streets were filled with rowdy people destroying property and businesses, demanding justice for this kid.  Some were very violent.  Yeah, he had committed a crime, but he didn't deserve to die.  Stand-offs with police were common over the next couple of days.  One evening, a group of these demonstrators caught a cop by himself - he was doing security for a store.  Before long there were around 30 demonstrators pelting him with rocks or ice-balls (it was winter).  It reached the point where he was in fear for his safety and called for backup.  A group of police showed up and took defensive positions around him and the store, and like-wise the crowd grew in size and everything escalated until it was a full-on brawl.  They were beating each other with clubs and anything else available.  Then one cop shoots and this causes gunfire from both sides, multiple people were shot and two were killed, and of course they shot a black man first.  

The city was in a stand-off.  One side wanted the police to be charged - some even wanted the death penalty.  Others just wanted things returned to normal.  They were happy with things as they were, and their relationship with police was an important part of their successful and prosperous lives.  The cops were arrested, partly to appease the mob.  A trial ensued for the policemen involved in the shootings and all were acquitted in a jury trial, and actually a couple of the demonstrators ended up with felony charges for attacking the police.  Relations between the police and this section of the public just deteriorated further.  They began organizing and looked for opportunities to strike back against what they perceived was an oppressive and heavy-handed law enforcement. Feeling that the courts often provided no real justice and physical altercations didn't really change anything, they began focusing on destroying property.

One day, the big opportunity came.  A shipment of over half a million dollars worth of retail goods was arriving. This stuff was all destined for these elite store owners that had sided with the police.  So, they disguised themselves as ethnic minorities, busted in, stole all of the goods, and destroyed all of it in a very pubic display - signaling this would all keep happening if something didn't seriously change. They hoped this would get the store owners riled up too.

It didn't change.

So, this was the beginning of the American Revolution. In 1770, the police in America were British soldiers. While this is over-simplistic and there were other antagonizing factors, unjust police was the biggie - way more than taxes, even if that is the popular reason (because that is what we told the British).  Try to find something about taxes in the Bill of Rights.

About the only example of peaceful protest in the history of America that actually worked was women's suffrage.  We are the most violent and warlike people in modern history, and that is all we listen and pay attention to. Well...we also care about money.