If history is our guide, when fascism is the question, violence is always the answer. Never in history has unchecked conservatism been defeated by pacifism.
Nonviolent protests are an appeal to humanity or a threat of violence. If your opponent refuses to have humanity and you’re unwilling to escalate to violence it will not work.
Look, man, if you're up against someone who is, when it comes down to it, willing to use violence, and you aren't... if the issue is serious enough that no other resolution presents itself as an acceptable compromise, the one willing to use violence is gonna win over the one who isn't.
Violence is a hard and dangerous task to undertake, with uncertain prospects, especially in the context of societal action. But without the ability to resort to it in times of crisis, no rights are secure.