I have remained silent on this issue. There has been a lot of talk about police heavy handedness and all of their military hardware. I am probably more concerned about military hardware in the hands of "Peace Officers" than most since I connect it all to the Patriot Act, NSA spying, the NDAA and our own government's targeting of Veterans, gun owners and people that still believe in the old Constitution and that we DO have rights.
The police in this situation in my opinion have exercised remarkable restraint. People are giving them EVERY excuse to kick their asses and they are restraining from doing so. GOOD for them.
As to the store owners wondering where the police are.... Dude, you should have a gun. The police are not there to protect you and your money. YOU armed with an AR-15 and YOUR hired help equally armed and backed up by the 2nd amendment to the U.S. Constitution is what you should be relying on. The police are there to restore order and to right reports. And If they can restore order, they will.
There really is only two possible ways to stop this crap. The reason WHY there are only two ways to stop it is that these "Protestors" are doing what they are doing NOT because they truly believe that there was an injustice. Word of the events that occurred likely has gotten out to those that have been rioting. So they HAVE to know that their big "Angel" was no angel. They are rioting because they want to. They like it. They want any excuse to cause trouble. Some may even be being PAID by someone to continue. Even the Hamas terrorists have been running around there with their flag stirring up shit.
Who benefits from their rioting? The individuals do cuz it's FUN to them. The New Black Panther Party since it is a great recruitment tool for them. Hamas does, otherwise why would they be there, Jackson and Sharpton, and of course, the guy currently on vacation golfing and bicycling at Martha's Vineyard benefits as it diverts attention from all of the fires across the world that he has been dousing with gasoline.
So yeah, as I see it there are two things the police could do to fix this and both of them are unacceptable. So they have to choose the LEAST unacceptable option, which is what they have done, to back off and ignore it like you would a two year old throwing a tantrum.
The other option is to go in there with overwhelming force and shoot the bastards. Which is exactly what the handlers of the aforementioned parties WANT them to do. Just my opinion as if anyone cares.