I'm tired of having to constantly address this point. I had hoped that people on HN would be able to do independent research, but I keep encountering this claim. No, the nationwide protests did not cause an uptick in cases. Multiple studies [1] [2] [3] seem to indicate that the coronavirus doesn't spread nearly as well outdoors as it does indoors. In fact, studies have indicated that one of the greatest surge predictors is card-present transactions in restaurants [4].
That is partly why here in Texas we're seeing such a strong resurgence. We reopened our bars and restaurants with reckless abandon and the result is a massive increase in cases across the state. At this point if you're claiming that the protests were the reason then you're showing your own political bias at play.
[1] https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/494348-new-study-finds...
[2] https://apnews.com/a288340b3bd3fbc62e564b3d0adfaa2e
[3] https://www.nber.org/papers/w27408.pdf
[4] https://fortune.com/2020/06/26/is-it-safe-restaurant-coronav...