One of the main problems I have with riots and protests is that eventually you get large mobs of people joining in that haven't a clue why they're even rioting or protesting. They're just doing it to be apart of the chaos and at that point it ends up becoming a problem for innocent people, like the riots that happened in England
a few years back which also stemmed from police killing a local. Once it reaches a certain point, the reason for why the riot is happening ends up getting lost, solving nothing. Destroying your town isn't going to magically solve the issue and instead will do the very opposite.
I find it more depends on the situation of the event and whether or not it gets blown out of proportion. The youngest electric chair victim (and executed person in the US) was a
14 year old black kid, wrongfully convicted, but the world didn't talk much over it. Compared to the murder of
Emmett Till that caused some major waves in the civil rights movements. In 2012, a
white teen was shot and killed by a black cop (claiming self defense) and there was some outcry over it, but no riots or protests.
When it comes to the media it also depends on how the situation is initially reported, in the 2012 Trevis Austin case, the cop was already painted as innocent and in self-defense. So the story was often overlooked, there was no racial controversy to be blown up. Black youth deaths are common in America, especially in the bad neighborhoods and have never blown up like this.
America's never been free, in the proper sense of the word. You have freedom up to a certain point and for as long as you continue to live by its laws/rules (unless you're rich enough and know the right people). Followed by the various layers of red tape of many things in between, but it's better than nothing for most since it could always be worse.
Taking away guns won't solve the gun problem, not in America, I wish this country would realize that. People will always find a way around something that is illegal if they care enough. I know the zero gun law of the UK has served well thus far, but the US & UK are two completely different animals (guns are already everywhere in the US for starters). All of the gun problems in the US have stemmed from human stupidity, not the guns themselves. Responsible gun owners are just that, they don't go around giving guns a bad name.
The US government only have themselves to blame for the difficulty in it. For decades they've tirelessly propagated that drug a, drug b, drug c, etc. are horrible evils that will ruin your life, your family, your brain, and ultimately kill you and everyone you love. After such hard work on that, turning it around at the snap of a finger is no longer a cake walk. If it makes them money, they'll legalize it to the ends of the Earth, as they have successfully done so with tobacco & alcohol.
I agree that legalizing drugs would solve the majority of the crime issues they have (if done properly), America has actually already done so with alcohol following the Alcohol Prohibition amendment of the 1920s. Ceasing all illegal alcohol activities and crimes in one fell swoop. Portugal has already done so a decade ago and their crime rate collapsed rapidly because of it. On top of that, it allowed a lot of drug users to safely and legally come out of hiding to get the medical help they need for their addictions. And lastly solving another issue that has been plaguing America and that's overcrowded prisons/jails. Drug lords, dealers, and junkies no longer have a market to flourish in and thus trimming the prison fat.
But you have blind populations that have proud patriotism and those that have for so long followed the messages of the government that they'll just as easily protest in disagreement on the legalization of drugs. As has already been the case in some states over the legalization of marijuana. Soo, it's a messy situation.