In just about every vibrant progressive social movement, there comes a moment when a psychologically or emotionally disturbed person, an agent provocateur, or a political extremist commits an atrocious act that is seized upon by the state and/or the Right to try to discredit or outright repress the movement. Regardless of the motivation behind the action, it is sufficiently heinous that confusion develops within the movement.

It is here that the movement can lose both its momentum and a segment of its less committed or more ambivalent supporters.

With the recent killing of two New York City police officers, the movement against police violence is in a pivotal moment. Intense and manipulative efforts are underway to paint those who have protested police brutality, or even those who have simply spoken up against it, as having blood on their hands — that figures like Rev. Al Sharpton and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and not unremitting police brutality, have created the tension between police and the community.