This was completely predictable. There will be an ongoing escalation until the election, and likely afterwards. We'll just have to see how far it goes, and how quickly it gets there. Like others in this thread have said, we've seen multiple videos of "protesters" shooting innocents just trying to get through "protest zones", so it's completely unsurprising that people are preemptively defending themselves having seen unprovoked shootings by "protesters". I worry about a situation happening like this around me, because I know that I don't have the patience to wait and find out if I've been attacked by an armed assailant. The moment you assault me or pull out a weapon and point it at my face, you've surrendered your right to life in my eyes. I will gladly kill you to save my own life. Gladly.