MIAMI – While most people who have been protesting on the streets of South Florida just wanted to have their voices heard, there were some who were only there to cause trouble.
That is, until peaceful demonstrators intervened.
Strong, but peaceful messages were delivered in Miami and Fort Lauderdale during loud, planned and organized marches that took place during the day.
Once the sun went down, however, the movement changed to systemic inequality in policing. This was something else, by someone else.
The explosions, the burning police vehicles, the vandalism, the afterhours chaos that drew strong responses from law enforcement was instigated by so-called troublemakers that were unaffiliated with the protests. One big problem is that some observers could not tell the difference.
The Dream Defenders will not criticize nor defend the opportunists who commandeered the attention.
Some of the demonstrators did try to stop the madness, like ones that put themselves between a Downtown Miami CVS and would-be vandals.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the FBI and the Dept. of Homeland Security are investigating whether outside agitators were responsible for the property damage and looting, which the FBI did not confirm or deny.