The legality argument also ignores the police tradition of breaking the law while shutting down protests just because they can get away with it.
And that’s precisely why it is so important to keep the legality of specific actions in mind while evaluating the actions of both the protestors, and the police, while having the conversation on protests and the responses such as these.
This conversation is the result of a direct reply to yet another comment indicating a lack of understanding of what is legal when protesting in the USA.
The morality of both the protestors and the authorities is far more subjective. But I keep seeing the same basic question “I thought it was legal to protest in the USA, how can they arrest them?”, so clarifying the boundaries of your rights is a good starting point, IMO. And frankly, bears repeating due to how frequently this is misunderstood and misrepresented.