THE ongoing disturbances in the US are worrying.

What began as legitimate protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, has now morphed into something much darker.

It’s unleashed a level of violence, not seen before, in cities across the country.

Armed militias, wearing full tactical gear and bearing military grade weaponry, face off across city streets.

Inevitably, police and civilians have been injured, or worse.

Chicago alone saw 51 wounded and three dead at the weekend.

In Portland, Oregon, now on its sixty-fifth day of rioting, the federal courthouse has become the focus of the nightly mob.

Sent in to defend it, hundreds of federal agents were this week barricaded inside, until forced out by firebombs, when they resorted to rubber bullets and tear-gas.

“This is no longer about George Floyd, racial equity, social justice, or police reform,” said the Oregon State Attorney.

Menaced and intimidated by the rioters, city mayors and state governors are calling for the agents to be removed, despite the inability of local police to quell the violence.

With protesters taking legal action against a perceived infringement of their right to free speech and assembly, a few, brave citizens urge a stronger response to the carnage.

They accuse the media of downplaying the scale of the disruption for fear of accidentally encouraging a ‘law and order’ Trump re-election campaign.

Given the supine response to the violence by his opponent, Joe Biden, I would not be surprised if the President does just that.

Politically, the US is as divided as I’ve even seen it in my lifetime.

The rot is internal; the worst kind.

What will happen in the weeks before the Presidential election is hard to predict, but I fear for the land of the free.