Well Dahs, you did invite the challenge. I'll take a swing at this.
I think their rhetoric is dangerous and has led to dozens, if not hundreds of unnecessary deaths, and hundreds, if not thousands, of unnecessary imprisonments, as a result of increasingly adversarial interactions between blacks and police.
I would like to see you explain this. What specific rhetoric are you talking about, and what are you referencing? I'm not sure I understand this argument. Are you saying that BLM has made black people more upset with the police, and made them aware of the issues that they have in their own communities with policing? Or are you specifically referring to protests?
I think their policy demands are dangerous and would result of thousands of unnecessary additional deaths in black communities if enacted, along with increases in virtually all other forms of crime. I also think they distract from more important areas of policy that could do more to help underserved communities in general, such as police retraining and a new educational initiative to provide greater opportunity to people growing up in poverty.
I would suggest being careful when saying "their policy demands." BLM isn't a centralized movement, and doesn't really have a leader. Furthermore, I would bet that over the long run, defunding the police will still not be a mainstream idea, even within BLM. It's not a core part of the movement. I can point to policies that have come as a result of BLM that I believe to be positive - body cameras, for instance, became mainstream after Ferguson. BLM has also made pushes for sentencing reform and demilitarization of police. I'm going to agree that there are a myriad of solutions to the problem, many of which aren't sexy enough for protests, but I also don't believe that it's fair to disagree with an entire movement over a minority opinion.
I think their protests during a pandemic are dangerous and will result in a number of deaths in the next few months that will take the police many years to catch up to.
Yeah, probably. In defense of BLM, the protests are, by and large, outside, and most there wear masks. It's unfortunate to protest during a pandemic.
Perhaps most importantly, I think their rhetoric and embrace of far-left policy recommendations at the top level push a reactionary response from conservatives and centrists. For example, the extreme negative reaction to the "all lives matter" counter. I recognize that most people saying ALM were coming from a racist place. I also fully understand why BLM rejected his rhetoric. But I also know that a huge majority of Americans - almost certainly including you - don't bother reading opinion articles they don't agree with.
On a literal level, I don't disagree with your argument here. HOWEVER, I wouldn't blame BLM for this. The entirety of the blame goes on the reactionary right. Sure, protesters could answer questions better. Overall, though, the concept of Black Lives Matter isn't exactly disagreeable. I would be interested in hearing what you think a better protest surrounding police brutality and racism in the criminal justice system would look like; more specifically, how it could be framed to avoid resentment from reactionaries.
On a meta/political level, I think BLM will end up being a positive force in the fight for criminal justice reform. Even calls to defund the police are good in the larger political context, so long as it remains a minority opinion. It's all about the overton window. Mild reforms, like the Dem bill in Congress, look a lot better when you have people on the extremes.