What Fueled the Revolution

Wall Street Journal

4 days ago

Mike Gonzalez writes that we 'must not forget what happened in the months after' George Floyd's death on May 25, 2020 ('George Floyd's Death Almost Consumed America in Revolution,' op-ed, May 24). We shouldn't forget what happened in the months prior either. In March the government ordered virtually every American to cease all normal human interactions. After more than two months of this, terrified Americans were shown a seemingly endless replaying of the terrible last moments of Floyd's life.
Mass protests, contrary to the stay-at-home guidance that until then had been insisted upon, were then permitted or encouraged. This witches' brew of relief from months of isolation, fear of a new disease and fury at what people saw repeatedly on TV, undoubtedly contributed to the ensuing violence that Mr. Gonzales describes. The revolutionary moment didn't occur in a vacuum.