The murder of an unarmed black man, George Floyd by police officers in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota days ago is an incident that has put the United States in bad light.

The issue has now transcended from a national one to a global debate, but while the incident has reignited the conversation of racism and the dangers of white supremacy all over the world; in the United States where it all began, it has gone past a conventional protest and has become a very dangerous, destructive and violent outburst.

The black community is fed up and they are taking extreme measures to express their displeasure. For seven straight nights now, the world has looked on as rioters vandalize, loot, and burn down business stores in over 20 cities all over America.

Following the looting and rioting, the President of the country Donald Trump held a press conference, where he addressed the rioting and promised to deploy the military in order to put an end to it. This in many people’s opinion is a terrible way to handle the situation. It appears to be passive-aggressive rather than constructive and has failed to address the real issue here, which is racism. But a point of concern is how meeting a violent protest with military force would play out, considering the unique situation at hand.

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While this is not the first time the military would be interfering in a protest, or by no means is this the first protest to be this violent, it doesn’t change the fact that this is the first violent protest that has happened during a pandemic.

The precise danger here is the fact that due to the absence of economic activities that could keep people busy, and there are no events such as sports and music concerts which artistes and athletes could use to call for a more peaceful demonstration, everyone is caught up in their own heads and this could generate careless ideas.

For a people widely known for expressing their liberties through civil unrest, and a people who do not take kindly to violent acts of suppression, you would think that this very delicate and rather unique situation would be handled more cautiously, but Trump seems to be creating a scenario which could be potentially disastrous.

Just a quick recap on all that has happened so far:

Looting of businesses all across America

Seven straight nights of rioting in over 40 cities

Police officer gets run over by a driver

Attack on the White House forces the President to hide in his secret bunker

Police officers taking gunfire in St Louis

More police brutality