CMV: There is absolutely no good reason to discourage people from attending protests

I keep seeing commenters argue till they are blue in the face about how (even though they profess to support the issue) going to protests is bad/dumb/pointless to a hostile, insistent, weird level. Like, they’re pissed that people are going. Insistent that almost no one ACTUALLY attended.

Unless they are arguing in bad faith or bots, I don’t get it. There’s no real downside to attending a protest. It’s not going to hurt the cause. It brings attention to the issue. It brings attention to the other things people can do- like call your representatives, organize, boycott, strike. Collaborate with people on get creative on how to change things.

What could possibly be the downside here? Change my view.

Edit: Ferdinand made a good point- safety. But that’s not really what I’m talking about, the hostile people aren’t concerned for people’s safety.