This is not a smart choice, they do know that the alternative to peaceful protests like this is violent protest right? They want to challenge that or do they think it won't be done because it's "illegal", that didn't stop these guys now did it?
In the positive cases the local police force and / or military manages to convince the government that it is a non-supportable act and nothing happens. In the bad cases it results in government officials getting lynched in the end.
Some people point blank refuse to learn from history, no matter how many times it is repeated.