Harmless ranting & displays of false bravado don’t go very far.
Think Putin & Crimea: real thugs ignore vapid threats, cracking heads at their convenience. A bucket of tar & a bag of feathers, otherwise unapplied, means nothing to those willing to kill anyone in their way.
Communists are all about symbolism.
Tar and feathers in open display gets the point across without the assault charge for laying hands on a politician.
The point is to get the message across without breaking the law.
Let the jackboots and the politicians be the first to go to the mat.
Being smart about it isn’t false bravado.