US riots a lesson in how legitimate anger can be hijacked and exploited by those with ugly motives

ALONGSIDE the coronavirus, there was a virus of panic; a panic that resulted in hospital wards being emptied, leading to Covid-19 patients returning to care homes; a panic that vastly reduced the numbers going to hospital for other treatable illnesses; a panic that stopped basic human kindness, like loved ones being with their dying relatives.

This panic virus has now mutated into an anger virus. Many protest peacefully at the police brutality and racism that resulted in George Floyd’s death. Others, such as Antifa groups, exploit this protest for their own ends. In the attack on the CNN building in Atlanta, a media outlet supportive of Black Lives Matter, the rioters show themselves to be ultimately anarchistic.

The rioting we witness in America is the reaction of a populace which has 40 million unemployed and is pent-up in frustration at a government that has sought to constrict the basic fundamentals of human life.

Courtney Ross, the girlfriend of George Floyd, has said: “Waking up this morning to see Minneapolis on fire would be something that would devastate Floyd. He loved the city. He came here (from Houston) and stayed here for the people and the opportunities. Floyd was a gentle giant. He was about love and about peace.”

The police brutality is something America must answer for. But the indiscriminate rage which has seized upon this protest is a lesson for all governments.

DOMINIC GALLAGHER Glenavy, Co Antrim