If we turn violent the “nonpolitical folk” will be able to keep their heads in the sand longer

That's just it, though. It doesn't have to be us that turns violent. It just has to look like us. And these fascists are very much willing and capable of doing false flag operations to 'justify' everything they want to do. They'll plant some of their people in the crowd, commit violence, and then flood the media with endlessly repeated pictures and video of that violence. (Or they'll make some bullshit AI video of 'leftist violence' and skip the extra steps.) And the "nonpolitical folk" you're trying to court will eat that shit up, breakfast lunch and dinner, without the slightest hint of critical thought.

You can complain about 'ceding them the power' all you want ... but they already do have the power to do this. And they'll do it. Guaranteed.

But that's okay. The struggle isn't over when they declare martial law and enact their brutal crackdowns. That's when the real struggle begins.