To me the political bent of HN isn't relevant when reading a comment. I'd rather take each comment on its own merits, without guessing or assuming what the ideology of the commenter would have to be.

I recently lived in a country in which wearing the wrong color socks is grounds for instant prison, so I prefer when my government's monopoly on violence errs on the side of restraint, as in the case of these protestors.

Should individual protestors get shut down when they harass mask-wearing doctors or honk horns in the middle of the night? Obviously.

But there is some fuzzy line in which we let protestors do otherwise illegal or fineable things that we don't let individuals do.

I could be convinced that skin color is a factor as you mentioned, but at the moment I have no idea.