That's quite a stretch. I agree that, if permits are acquired, peaceful demonstrations and marches are not civil disobedience. Which is all we have had thus far despite several people predicting some large-scale race riot.
But civil disobedience is NOT a riot. Two different things. As, I think, Katydid pointed out, civil disobedience includes sit-ins, taking over lobbies, refusing to get out of the road, etc. I will add that it includes chaining oneself to a fence, marches or rallies without permit, and so on. It's what Ghandi did during his years of activism and what MLK and his followers did during the civil rights movement. Illegal activity, but not a riot. Civil disobedience is the conscious refusal to follow certain laws, in a peaceful manner, in an effort to make a point.