Originally Posted by Willravel

Bank robbing ≠ protesting.

I'm only speaking from secondary experience of course, but how many law enforcement officers train to use grenades in an urban environment? While I would assume there are certainly similarities between military and police training, I would imagine that the military training includes somewhat more dangerous situations than one might normally deal with in the US. I had a friend of mine serving in Iraq describe a situation he was in as "similar to that one part of Clear and Present Danger" (referring to the ambush scene where automatic weapons and missile launchers were used to attack a motorcade from surrounding buildings).

I would be very surprised if any local police ever needed anything more than a standard issue sidearm at a protest. As a protester, I know that the danger police are normally in during a protest is minimal. The most danger a police officer is likely to see is a rock or two, and even that is exceedingly rare. I can't imagine needing automatic weapons to deal with one or two people throwing rocks.