They’re not peaceful protesters, they’re society’s official drama queens.
In nearby Newark NJ there have been (peaceful) protests by “students” that want the state to return control of the school district to Newark itself; while the students themselves seem genuine (ethnic minorities dressed the part), they are interspersed with (and led by) older whites (who certainly aren’t students, and probably don’t even live in Newark). They block traffic on highways to inconvenience working taxpayers; I couldn’t imagine a better way to drive the last viable jobs out of your city...