It would be harder for them to write it off as random violence when there is an obvious message attached. People of less radical tendency are often quick to condemn other protesters actions saying they don t represent their ideas, and they wish to be peaceful. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are people who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning.
Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never did and never will. People might not get all that they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get. After the G-8 demonstrations in Genoa, I find it really hard to believe that activists would still condemn other activists for being violent, in light of the fact that the police actually murdered a demonstrator. People who tend to be against any kind of real direct action don t seem very committed, and shouldn t really expect any change to come from passively and politely asking those in power to listen to them. I m not saying every activist needs to be out on the front lines engaging police, but to condemn and disassociate themselves from those who are is not doing anything positive.