I should clarify that I’m not going to join the protest, I’m not really a protester and I definitely envisage police violence (whether or not “justified”), and I don’t want to end up with 10 broken ribs, but what do guns have to do with anything? Are the gun nuts coming to counter protest or something? Also, you can group me in with the people who despise guns and gun culture.

Also, I don’t really agree with your assessment that non-violent people do not have many “stop triggers”. I don’t think violence will come from the vast majority of people. There’s always a few idiots, but in my experience, peaceful protests usually turn violent only after people from both sides heighten each other up, until it turns physical. Then that causes a Domino effect where other people see unjustified violence and try to jump in to defend their people. But it’s certainly not the majority of people. I don’t see it as much different from other large gatherings or events.