“...do they really think this is a winning strategy for them?”
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Simply...Overload the system, create new system...Rinse, Repeat.
Earlier, the “Cloward Piven” strategy. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloward%E2%80%93Piven_strategy
The violence is -and always has been- the extortion leverage.
Going back to the escalator, the message of every violent act or event was, “Resign and the deaths will stop. The longer you stay, the more blood you will have on your hands.”
The media, reporting that Trump has blood on his hands, is complicit.