My neighborhood was severely damaged. Many people left and never came back and many stores never reopened. I live in an apartment building which could easily be compromised and then I'd be a sitting duck for whoever wants to break into my apartment. The riots got out of hand because folks were afraid to implement law and order.
Ironically, we had protests yesterday, the police came out in huge numbers and as far as I can tell everything was peaceful. The protesters got their protest and the rest of us got to keep our lives and property.
Which neighborhood? This is the first time I've heard of that level of deep scale damage, and I was at protests at least once a week that entire period.
I've also heard of not a single instance of protestors breaking into private homes to harm people there.
Sorry to be so skeptical but your experience is apparently singularly novel.
As for police keeping protests peaceful, my experience is the complete opposite - protests are peaceful, and then the cops show up and start pushing people around, or their undercover officers try to kick things off by throwing things or shoving people. American cops escalate.
I hear very similar stories from folks in the greater metro area about what happened in Detroit in 2020 to this day. I lived here then and there were no fires, looting, or destruction here at all. It's been well documented, but that perception can't be broken and they continue to talk about how dangerous and destructive it was.
I'm also realizing now that depending on the time period, stores not "reopening" in a neighborhood (for how long were they closed?) was probably due to COVID.
Ironically, we had protests yesterday, the police came out in huge numbers and as far as I can tell everything was peaceful. The protesters got their protest and the rest of us got to keep our lives and property.