It depends on your definition of protest. Is it the one commonly accepted before 2020? Angry mobs breaching the capitol, calling for executions is not something which can be tolerated if we want to have nice things. Congressmen have been shot inside the house chamber, and police had no way of knowing what the mob would do on January 6, especially after so many were assaulted on the capitol grounds.
That's a pretty good point that I had not previously considered. In
retrospect, the media and politicians labelling it an "insurrection" is ridiculous because we found out there were no guns, and unarmed people aren't going to overthrow a government. However, at the time it was actually happening, the cops there could not have known if there were some armed people in there waiting for the "right" moment to use their weapons.
Look, I don't think anyone is saying that it was right to arrest/abuse those people who were actually waved inside. But there were others who were clearly trying to force their way inside by assaulting cops, smashing barricades, and breaking windows/doors. The fact that others were
allowed in elsewhere, or afterwards, doesn't change the illegality of what those others did. And just to be clear, not everyone breaking windows, doors, assaulting cops, etc., was an undercover fed.
And I do agree with you that any so-called protestors,
anywhere, who destroy property and assault others to make their points are entitled to some nice warnings. After that, I don't have a problem with using deadly force to enforce the law. That includes Antifa goons blocking streets and setting fires in Portland, etc..