Here's a scenario for discussion:
1. Public opinion begins to shift towards complete lock-down as a means of ensuring safety.
2. People who protest this are increasingly painted as supporters of terrorism.
3. Self appointed 'Patriots' begin to organize as an effort to silence the dissent.
4. A prominent protester is involved in a high profile event that sparks outrage, OR a high profile murderer is identified as being part of the protest movement.
5. Almost spontaneously, the bands of 'Patriots' begin physically attacking the protesters who they identify as being one and the same with the person in item #4.
6. With public support backing them, the government begins observing or arresting anyone associated with the movement "for their own protection".
7. The arrests actualy inflame even more emotion because it is seen as a legitimazation of the anti-protest movement.
8. A nationwide crisis develops as this escalates further. Even with the best intentions, the government's special treatment of the protesters serves only to excacerbate the problems until people start to die.
It might not be genocide, but the powerful thing about mob mentality is that it makes smart individuals into dumb and stupid brutes. If this can happen, it's just a step away from something much darker.
Read 'It Can't Happen Here' by Sinclair Lewis (about a theoretical spread of nazism in the US, written in the early 30's) or watch the miniseries 'V'. The scenario I outlined was an accidental one, these two works show what happens when it's on purpose.
