University of St. Thomas Associate Dean Lisa Waldner, who has studied white supremacy and the anarchist movement in America, said in an interview with WCCO Radio that the goal of many of the people involved in the destruction of Minneapolis is to create chaos in an attempt to push their own separate agendas.
“The goal is to create chaos,” Waldner said. “Why would people of color burn down the businesses they often frequent?”
State and community leaders have been repeating this sentiment all day Saturday, urging protesters to be home by the 8 p.m. curfew to weed out the good protesters from those trying to detract attention away from their cause with more destruction.
Waldner said people need to stop blaming the George Floyd protesters for the fires and looting, adding most of the protesters are showing up to do so peacefully.
“There were people out there with knowledge in how to do this and how to do this quickly,” Waldner said of those engaging in criminal activity and the destruction of buildings.
Moving forward, she encouraged listeners to have a conversation with someone different from them instead of pointing fingers.
“I think we’ll learn that we’re all more alike than different,” she said.
