George Floyd death: Why do some protests turn violent?

By Helier Cheung

BBC News, Washington DC

Curfews?have been imposed in?multiple cities in the US, after unrest and protests have?spread across?the country over the death of a black man, George Floyd, in police?custody.

Curfews： /?k??fju?/??宵禁? ?imposed in：強(qiáng)加在···impose 有強(qiáng)加，征稅等意思? ?Custody：/?k?st?di/ 拘留

spread across：擴(kuò)散

Most of the?protests began peacefully - and several?stayed peaceful. But in a large number of cases, demonstrators clashed with?police, set police cars on fire, vandalised property or looted shops. The National Guard has been activated 5,000 of its personnel?across 15 states and Washington DC.

demonstrators ：游行示威者? ?clashed with：與··沖突 ?set···on fire 點(diǎn)火? ?Vandalise：/'v?nd?laiz/ 破壞

Loot：V搶劫，洗劫 N 戰(zhàn)利品??Personnel：全體人員；人事部門

Experts have also drawn?parallels with?the 2011 England riots - when a peaceful protest over a man who was shot dead by police turned into four days of riots, with widespread looting?and buildings?set alight.

Incidents like Mr Floyd's death can "become a trigger moment?because it symbolises a broader experience, amongst much larger numbers of people, about the relationship between police and the black community", says Prof Clifford Stott, an expert in?crowd behaviour and public order policing?at Keele University.

drawn parallels with：橫向?qū)Ρ?，與··比較??Riots：暴動，騷亂? ?widespread looting：大范圍打砸搶

?set alight：點(diǎn)火?上文中使用的是 set···on fire

?a trigger moment：?trigger手槍的扳機(jī)，動詞 觸發(fā)；moment是時(shí)刻的意思 這里指黑人弗洛伊德的死就像是撬動扳機(jī)的時(shí)候，會帶來一系列問題?？梢苑g為‘引爆點(diǎn)’

crowd behaviour：群體行為? ?public order policing：公眾秩序監(jiān)管

Confrontations?are particularly likely when there are?structural inequalities, he adds.

Confrontation /?k?nfr?n?te??n/??~ (with sb)~ (between A and B)?

a situation in which there is an angry disagreement between people or groups who have different opinions 對抗；對峙；沖突

structural inequalities：結(jié)構(gòu)性不平等?社會學(xué)范疇的學(xué)術(shù)名詞 （注釋1）

指的是“那些看上去中立、不關(guān)注個(gè)人的制度性不作為、已經(jīng)確立的結(jié)構(gòu)和社會政治規(guī)范”，這些政治規(guī)范盡管看上去是理性的，但綜合考慮卻“制造和強(qiáng)化了種族隔離和不平等”。?參考：http://www.aisixiang.com/data/79180-3.html

Prof Stott studied the 2011 England riots extensively, and found that the riots there spread because protesters in different cities identified with each other - either because of their ethnicity, or because they shared a dislike of the police.

This meant that, when the police appeared to be overwhelmed, rioters in different districts felt empowered to mobilise.

Overwhelmed /,??v?'welmd/ V-T If a group of people overwhelm a place or another group, they gain complete control or victory over them. 徹底制服; 擊敗

Empower: ?to give sb the power or authority to do sth 授權(quán)；給（某人）…的權(quán)力

Mobilise: to work together in order to achieve a particular aim; to organize a group of people to do this 組織；鼓動；動員

Violent protests are less likely when police have a good relationship with the local community - but how they react to demonstrations on the day also matters, experts say.

"Riots are a product of interactions?- largely to do with the nature of the way police treats crowds," says Prof Stott.

Riots are a product of interactions: 暴亂產(chǎn)生于互動--很大部分取決于警察對待民眾的態(tài)度

For example, he says, in a large crowd of?protesters, tensions?may begin with just?a few?people confronting the police.

Confronting：confront-confrontation 對抗? ??Tensions：緊張局面

However, "police often react towards the crowd as a whole" - and if people feel that the police use of force against them is unjustified, this increases their "us versus them"?mentality.

as a whole：當(dāng)成整體? ??"us versus them"?mentality?：二元對立的敵我心態(tài)

This "can change the way people feel about violence and confrontation - for example, they may start feeling that violence is legitimate given the circumstances."

violence is legitimate given the circumstances：特定場合暴力合法化

Legitimate： /l??d??t?m?t/

1，for which there is a fair and acceptable reason 正當(dāng)合理的；合情合理的

a legitimate grievance 合乎情理的抱怨,

2，allowed and acceptable according to the law 合法的；法律認(rèn)可的；法定的

the legitimate government of the country 這個(gè)國家的合法政府

Darnell Hunt, dean?of social sciences at UCLA, believes police in the US "ramped up?their aggressiveness" over the weekend.

dean：A?dean?is an important official at a university or college. (大學(xué)的) 學(xué)院院長; 系主任

Rampe up ：to increase or cause to increase? ? ?ramped up?their aggressiveness?：暴力升級

"Deploying?the national guard, using rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray - these are a range of police?tactics that can?exacerbate?an already-tense situation."

Deploy： /d??pl??/ ?To deploy troops or military resources means to organize or position them so that they are ready to be used. 部署

rubber bullets：橡膠子彈? ?tear gas：催淚彈? ??pepper spray：噴灑胡椒粉

tactic /?t?kt?k/： the particular method you use to achieve sth 針對性策略；手段；招數(shù)

exacerbate?/?ɡ?z?s?be?t/：to make sth worse, especially a disease or problem 使惡化；使加劇；使加重

Experts highlight a series of police tactics?that were seen as heavy-handed - including the firing of large amounts of tear gas at young protesters - as moves that galvanised?protesters and made them more confrontational.

Galvanised??galvanise-galvanlize/?ɡ?lv?na?z

~ sb (into sth/into doing sth) to make sb take action by shocking them or by making them excited 使震驚；使振奮；激勵；刺激

The urgency of his voice galvanized them into action . 他急迫的聲音激勵他們行動起來。

( technical 術(shù)語 ) to cover metal with zinc in order to protect it from rust 電鍍；給（金屬）鍍鋅