The side that believes those things will view any protest that way if they didn’t already believe in the cause, no matter how peaceful it is. The sacks of shit looting really don’t move the needle on public opinion and as long as they stick to mega corps they are still the least of the problems.

Also the police everywhere on the planet routinely will infiltrate protests and start shit like this to do exactly what you have described, there truly is no way to have a meaningful protest without things getting ugly.

And finally…why must everything that ever occurs during a protest be blamed on the protesters and the cause? Why are any looters automatically assumed to be part of it and not just opportunistic pieces of shit or even straight up agitators and saboteurs?

You are part of the problem here, whether you realize it or intend for it.