At every moment of the Trumpist assault on the U.S. Capitol, differences have been glaringly visible between how these overwhelmingly white, far-right people have been treated and how protesters for racial justice have been treated over the past year by the very same law enforcement agencies. From the fact that the Capitol prepared for Black Lives Matter protests with ranks of heavily armed officers while claiming to have been simply caught unawares by an assault on the Capitol that had been telegraphed in advance, to the violence meted out to racial justice protesters while members of the crowd that violently stormed the Capitol were “gently walked … down the stairs,” as CNN reported, it’s impossible not to see. (If you’re honest.)
But the moments keep piling up—on video for all of us to see—showing just how welcoming the police were to this insurrectionist mob. Like this one:
Or this:
After hours of rioters occupying the Capitol, police had reportedly made just 13 arrests. And it’s not just Black Lives Matter protesters this is a sharp contrast with.
Advocates for immigrants report similarly aggressive policing when they went to lobby Congress or protest. As do advocates for people with disabilities. The group that got special treatment was the group that actually breached the Capitol to stop Congress from doing its duty of counting the electoral votes as part of the peaceful transfer of power. And this special treatment didn’t just come from individual officers. It was inherent in the lack of preparation for a violent mob—the staffing decisions that had these rioters met by small numbers of cops in windbreakers and bike helmets came from the top. Law enforcement is complicit in this, whether intentionally or by a racist inability to see white people as a threat. The leadership of these agencies has to answer for that.