Comment by totalZero

Different places have different forms of political outcry. Protest by destruction of commercial property was a well-known component of American colonial resistance to Britain. (Consider the Boston Tea Party, for example.)

Personally I have never been part of a riotous protest, but in an academic sense I believe that destruction of commercial property does more to force a change in police activity than destruction of police cars and other public property (things that ultimately belong to the people themselves).

You can bet that there are more powerful people in the business community there, than on the police force.

I don't believe this is actively in the mind of most rioters, but I think it is part of the reason that rioting has a major impact on American politics.