“if attacked by ‘armed gangs’”
Well yes if “demonstrators” are shooting at them you’d expect they would shoot back.
In this article there is a Twitter embed showing weapons being handed to the mostly peaceful protesters from an unmarked vehicle:
Now THAT’S an insurgency!
18 police killed, 800 dead.
Sounds like peacekeeping is needed. Can the US spare any social workers to parachute into the fray? Maybe send VP Harris and AOC.