The courts would give a lesser sentence if they assaulted or killed someone
"If you make peaceful protest impossible, you make violent protest inevitable." -- John F. Kennedy
I needn't remind you that it was without provocation government slaughtered Christian children, women and men in Waco, Texas in your and my name.....and not one priest, minister, or rabbi raised a fist.
Testing the water, government knows it can get away with murder, when it comes to Christians.