Those sheep are extremely well armed. And some of those sheep belong to the military and their never ending levels of police forces. There is already background noise about separating red and blue states. I don't see any reason to think it would be any less violent than last time they did that. The big difference in my opinion is that it will effect the rest of the planet far, far more.
Can they avoid it ? Sure, but so far they continue to push it past the tipping point.