> One side trashes a bunch of cities, the other the capitol

First, both sides are mostly made up of non-violent people dedicated to their cause. Both sides can rightfully claim that a minority of "bad eggs" amongst them caused the violence.

But that's where the equivalency ends. We have to look at the cause itself.

It's quite a stretch to say that a group protesting police brutality (in the face of actual police brutality) is at all equivalent to a group seeking to overthrow a legitimate government (with zero evidence to back their claims).

It's not the same ballpark. It ain't even the same fucking sport.