[5th MEB]

You lock and load only after the rioters have fired the first shots for the record; your body armor should protect you from their less than adequate armament, at least at that time.
A much more effective methodology is to give the commands “COMPANY; FIX BAYONETS, PRESENT, AT THE SLOW TIME, FORWARD MARCH”. Trust me this works, it’s the method we used at San Onofre in 1970. The mob will start to move as soon as you make contact (the ones in the front don’t seem to like their position), other than a few relatively minor injuries (accidental I assure you) you can break their will in about 15 minutes.
Nothing motivates an idiot more than being at the sharp end of the spear. It’s beautiful to behold.

[mylife]

What do you do when the protester whops you in the face with a rock?
And how do you deal with the legal fallout?

That is what Kent was about
The Mob did not move.

[Godwin1]

Hate it that anyone died—but many more GOOD Americans—G1s— died that day. Whatever their intentions, the dead Kent State students were giving aid and comfort to those who were killing real Americans in Vietnam.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

However, breaking up a riot is done DO IT! “Peaceful Protest” in the street is a Marxist tool. It is not “the right to petition the government”, or “free speech” guaranteed by the Constitution. There never has been, there is not now nor will there ever be a “peaceful” street protest.