John Hood: Riots Destroy More Than Property
RALEIGH — During a May 31 press conference, Gov. Roy Cooper spoke effectively to the issues of police misconduct and injustice raised by the death of George Floyd. He also condemned the “violence and destruction” that unfolded in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Fayetteville, and other cities as protests became riots.
Unfortunately, either the governor or his staff apparently thought his prepared remarks, otherwise sober and appropriate, needed some pizzazz. So they dropped in a memorable soundbite, and aggressively marketed it over the next several hours. It became the theme of Cooper’s statement, and of the state’s initial reaction to the riots.
No doubt you saw or heard it: “Let me be clear. People are more important than property.”
Saying this was a foolish miscalculation. It made Governor Cooper appear clueless and cavalier.
Of course human beings are important in a way that inanimate objects are not. But in practical terms, rioting and looting is always about people harming people. For every window shattered, door broken, and store looted, there are human victims. There are business owners and their employees, already reeling from the COVID-19 recession, trying to keep their heads above water. There are police officers and bystanders put in harm’s way. There are people made more fearful to work, shop, or live downtown.
And in this case, the victims include protestors whose heartfelt grievances about abuse of governmental power are shoved aside by violent reaction and counterreaction.
While it is impossible to know with confidence the relative percentages, it is clear that the throngs filling the downtowns of cities in North Carolina and elsewhere in recent days consist of three discrete groups: ralliers, rioters, and revolutionaries.
The first group are those rallying against police misconduct and injustice. They comprise the vast majority, particular in the early hours of a demonstration. They are overwhelmingly peaceful. They are angry. They have every right to be. And most North Carolinians, of all backgrounds and parties, agree with them about George Floyd.
