Like most of us, I was appalled at the arrest and subsequent brutal treatment of American George Floyd, leading to the man’s death.
The four police officers involved in that incident have all been sacked, and one, if not all, have been charged with the murder of Mr Floyd.
Why then do people feel it’s necessary to act like a rent-a-mob, and destroy innocent people’s property and businesses, and even attempt to murder police officers in retaliation?
What, if anything, are these gatherings actually imagined to achieve? The answer is nothing. In Scotland, we live in a part of the world that is, by and large, free of racial tension, and my understanding of much of the tension in America is how people perceive the distribution of wealth.
That’s been the subject of protest as far back as Dr Martin Luther King’s day, and whilst we’ve since seen an African American president, the bottom line is equality and wealth distribution are largely based on education and aspiration.
There is no hidden agenda, and to take to the streets and riot is utterly pointless.
If we were all a bit kinder, there’s a start at least.
Andrew Lamb, Fraserburgh.
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