Comment by username90

The people in 1776 didn't loot random places, they only attacked the people abusing them. Also they didn't loot, they just poured it all in the sea to ensure the company suffered losses, they didn't do it to enrich themselves. That is very different from what is happening today, if these people only attacked the police station and left the other places untouched I would have more sympathy for them.

As another modern example, the protests in Hong Kong didn't involve looting. Instead the protesters were very well behaved except against what they protested against, and thus got a lot of support. Looting and destroying random property will just ensure that people will cheer when you get smashed by the police or military.