George Floyd death: Why do some protests turn violent?

By Helier Cheung

BBC News, Washington DC

（接part-1）Prof Stott argues that police forces that have invested in de-escalation training?are more likely to avoid violence at protests. He points to protests that were able to stay peaceful in the US over the weekend - such as in Camden, New Jersey, where officers joined the residents in a march against racism.

Chief Wysocki on the march today, standing together with the residents we serve to remember and honor George Floyd. #StrongerTogether #CamdenStrong

?de-escalation training? ?Escalation:/?esk??le??n/ ?增加；擴大；逐步上升 de-escalation 降級

It also depends on what's at stake

Moral psychology?can help explain why some protests turn violent, says Marloon Moojiman, an assistant professor in?organisational behaviour?at Rice University.

what's at stake：問題的癥結(jié)是····；成敗的關(guān)鍵是···；岌岌可危的是···?Moral psychology?道德心理

?organisational behaviour：組織行為

A person's sense of morality is central to how they see themselves, so "when we see something as immoral, it creates strong feelings, because we feel our understanding of morality has to be protected".

"This can?override other concerns?people have about keeping peace", because "if you think the system is broken, you're going to want to really do something drastic?to show that that's not acceptable."

Override：to be more important than sth 比…更重要；凌駕 override other concerns凌駕其他關(guān)注點

Drastic /?dr?st?k; ?drɑ?st?k/??extreme in a way that has a sudden, serious or violent effect on sth 極端的；急劇的；嚴厲的；猛烈的???drastic measures/changes 嚴厲的措施；劇烈的變化

This can apply to a wide range of beliefs - for example, in an extreme case, someone who thinks abortion?is a moral outrage?may be more likely to say it's OK to bomb an abortion clinic, he says.

Abortion：墮胎? ?Outrage：a strong feeling of shock and anger 憤怒；義憤；憤慨

The judge's remarks caused public outrage. 裁判的話引起了公憤。

[ C ] an act or event that is violent, cruel or very wrong and that shocks people or makes them very angry 暴行；駭人聽聞的事? ?No one has yet claimed responsibility for this latest bomb outrage. 迄今還沒有人宣稱對最近的爆炸丑行負責。

Research suggests that social media echo chambers?could also make people more susceptible?to endorsing violence, if they believe that their peers have the same moral views as them, he adds.

Echo chamber：回音室效應(yīng) 指在一個相對封閉的環(huán)境里，一些意見相近的聲音不斷重復，甚至夸張扭曲，令身處其中的多數(shù)人認為這些聲音就是事實的全部。

Susceptible： /s??sept?bl/??~ (to sb/sth) very likely to be influenced, harmed or affected by sb/sth 易受影響（或傷害等）；敏感；過敏

Endorse：V-T If you endorse someone or something, you say publicly that you support or approve of them. 公開支持; 贊同 ?Endorse violence 為暴力/武力背書，

Looting and vandalism?can be more targeted than you think

In the US, hundreds of businesses have been damaged, and there has been widespread looting in LA and Minneapolis?over the weekend.

Minneapolis /,mini'?p?lis/ 美國城市

However, Prof Stott warns that while it's easy to assume that riots and crowds are "irrational and chaotic, none of that is true - it's highly structured and meaningful for the people taking part".

irrational /??r???nl/??and chaotic /ke???t?k/ ：irrational是不合邏輯，非理性

an irrational fear 無端恐懼 chaotic：混沌無序的，混亂的 兩者一塊兒形容暴亂是混亂無序

"To some extent, looting is an expression of power - black citizens may have felt?disempowered?in relation to the police - but?in the context of a riot, the rioters momentarily become more powerful than the police."

Empower：賦權(quán)，disempower：未被授權(quán)

Studies of previous riots show that places that get looted are often related to big businesses, and that looting "often relates to the sense of inequality related to living in capitalistic economies", he says.

the sense of inequality：不平等的感覺? ?capitalistic economies：資本主義經(jīng)濟?

Prof Hunt has studied the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which were sparked after four white police officers were?acquitted?over the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King.

acquit/??kw?t/?~ sb (of sth) to decide and state officially in court that sb is not guilty of a crime 宣判…無罪

The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪審團裁決他謀殺罪不成

He says there is "a long history of targeting, or selectivity", in vandalism and looting. "In the LA uprisings, you'd often see 'minority owned' spray painted on minority businesses, so that people would bypass?those."

Uprising：up-rise 上升，起來 合在一起有起義，暴動的意思。目前為止這篇文章出現(xiàn)了 riot、vandalism、loot、outrage、confrontation、protest與社會運動相關(guān)的詞

minority owned：少數(shù)族裔所有，文中指一些商店噴繪這些，以避免被打砸搶。

Bypass?： 忽略，繞過by-pass ?a road that passes around a town or city rather than through the centre （繞過城市的）旁路，旁道

However, both Prof Stott and Prof Hunt?caution?that looting is?complicated?- especially as lots of people with different motivations take part, including people in poverty, or?organised criminals.

The idea that violent protests are targeted and meaningful events to those taking part can also explain why looting occurs in some protests, but not others.

How can violence be prevented?

Public order experts say that for the police, being seen as legitimate?and able to engage protesters in dialogue is key.

"Good policing tries to?avoid an 'us' and 'them' mentality, and also tries to avoid the sense that police can act in ways that people see as illegitimate," says Prof Stott.

Dr Ho also believes that negotiation is the best way - but points out that "one of the hardest things today is that a lot of protests are leaderless. If you can't find the leader, you can't negotiate with them."?

More generally, he adds, politicians can make matters better - or worse - based on their approach to dialogue, and whether they use emergency legislation.

Ultimately, however, riots can be a symptom of deep-seated tensions and complicated issues that don't have an easy solution.

Prof Hunt says this week's US riots are the most serious ones since 1968 - after Martin Luther King?was?assassinated.

Martin Luther King?：馬丁·路德·金 美國黑人平權(quán)運動領(lǐng)袖 1968年被暗殺

?Assassinate?/??s?s?ne?t/ 暗殺，行刺

"You can't think about police?brutality, and the profiling of certain communities, without thinking about the inequalities that exist in society and fuel those concerns," he says.

?Brutality?/bru??t?l?ti/ 暴行

?fuel those concerns：fuel是燃料的意思，給這些關(guān)注點加燃料，就是刺激問題的意思

"The George Floyd case was not the cause - it's more like?the straw that broke the camel's back. You could argue even the police killings are symptoms?- the underlying cause?is white supremacy, racism, and things the US has not fundamentally dealt with."

the straw that broke the camel's back?壓死駱駝的稻草

Symptom /?s?mpt?m/：癥狀?/?s?mpt?m/

a change in your body or mind that shows that you are not healthy 癥狀? ?flu symptoms 流感癥狀

a sign that sth exists, especially sth bad 征候；征兆??The rise in inflation was just one symptom of the poor state of the economy. 通脹上升不過是經(jīng)濟不景氣的一個征候。

underlying cause：根本原因? ? ?white supremacy?/su??prem?si; sju??prem?si/?白人至上