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"I wanna hear what riots mean to you. Carnivalesque events where the normal rules are suspended, giving space to new possibilities and forms of life and where new affinities are formed among the ashes of so many Targets?"

Of course, and people were desperately needing a carnival after being locked down because of Covid.
They so desperately wanted to go shopping like before that they stormed the Targets, jk.
In many places, the way the government mistreated or antagonized the people during Covid is backfiring on them. This, in a way, is like a prison revolt. And this comment is also in a way is like complete nonsense.

Funny picture, just the other day my neighbor was telling me how a bunch of gyms might go out of business because of Covid quarantine and because they might have to pay back the money of memberships they charged during lockdown. I'm also reminded of the so-called "retail crash"(of it's windows) in light (of the fires) of the different stores that have been Targeted and looted.

But as the move is increasingly towards online shopping and services, it'd be interesting to see people targeting warehouses. Some people that think they know (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CjXoJMmkpM) say that one of the responses the economy will make in light of the way the Covid pandemic impacted supply chains is to shift from a just-in-time supply chain and diversify it to make it more resilience resembling more of a just-in-case supply chain for certain goods. This implies the need for keeping stock and for warehousing certain goods. The location of those near you and nature of these would be good to know, as it might come handy now during riots, or later during a natural disaster.

Also funny to be reminded how some (Keating) was saying how a fare strike or something centered around public transport might start something like what went down in Chile, but of course, everyone else in the USA would have bet that something like this would do it, as it had before. Race lines and white supremacy implicit and explicit in government and many groups have polarized the political once again, and this is old news, but it's also been the current news since forever.

"Something to be avoided except if those who claim to be directly affected by whatever issue the preceding tedious protests start it?"

Hell no. You do you, regardless. If it appeals to you, and you feel compelled to, go. Sure, be considerate of others if you want to be nice, and mindful of your surroundings to stay safe within the risks you're willing to take, which it'd be nice if you didn't impose them on others. Unless you're like Nechayev and think getting people arrested will radicalize them, good luck with that, asshole.

"Flashy events often fetishized but best avoided except by those who want to be low-hanging fruit for police action?"

Definitely. Avoid being where the police, unless you're going after them, are and find your own low-hanging fruit.

"A chance for you to help out with medical or legal support skills honed through years of experience?"

Definitely. It's vital that know what you're good at. If you're a slow runner and have a terrible throwing arm with bad aim, act accordingly.

"A little of everything? Something else?"

They're definitely also a wake-up call for normies, whether they live em directly, or through media.
By this I don't mean it makes them nearer to be "one of us" but it often brings to the discussion topics that the status quo would prefer to have swept under the rug and forgotten. Facing these situations, which they would not have to during business-as-usual, those that were predisposed to have stances similar to ours will make up their minds.

On the other hand, the government uses this opportunity to rule by using fear. They were already doing that with the new enemy of the Covid, and now they have the help of this recurrent enemy, the people.
I say recurrent, but it's not either or, it often is it's best ally and its constituents. ACAB is catchy, kill the cop inside your head, less so. All the people, self-appointed grassroots community and movement leaders or representatives that will single-handedly have more influence in quelling the revolts than any individual cop, whose mere presence may actually incite them and agitate them, will get off the hook and no graffiti or chant will be said about them and their complicity. Much less of any of the people who nod their heads while listening to them, legitimize them and amplify them on social media, and much later may even vote for them in some election, if it came to that.

You will see flipped and burnt cop cars, and burning police precincts, but probably none of the politician's cars, nor of all the snitches and peace police will have slashed tires by the end of this.

"In addition, I’d like to see the best riot porn you’ve found from the past week."

I'd go look for some, but I risk wasting hours on twitter cuz there's sooo much footage from soooo many cities. This is unprecedented, not just the amount of cities in revolt, but the amount of footage and data collected. This, along with the decade+ of data from internet coverage of instances of revolt, will be juicy training data for the counter-insurgency a.i. that will be decentralized, distributed among the different drones and networked devices (mainly smartphones that are being used to "contact trace protesters" right now).