One of the reactions to the mass-break-in to the Capitol Building in Washington last week has been to contrast the police response and numbers arrested or charged with the Black Lives Matter protests last June. The Black Lives Matter Global Network commented: “Make no mistake, if the protesters were Black, we would have been tear gassed, battered, and perhaps shot.”
Former First Lady, Michele Obama released a statement pointing out the discrepancy between “these rioters and gang members … led out of the building not in handcuffs, but free to carry on with their days” and the summer’s “overwhelmingly peaceful” Black Lives Matter protest movement which saw “peaceful protesters met with brute force. We saw cracked skulls and mass arrests, law enforcement pepper spraying its way through a peaceful demonstration for a presidential photo op”. Read the full statement here.
As well as his own statement describing “a moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation”, former president predecessor Barack Obama has also Tweeted links to several articles further analysing the gulf in response between mostly white and mostly black protests. These are:
- FiveThirtyEight.com: “The Police’s Tepid Response To The Capitol Breach Wasn’t An Aberration”
- New Yorker: “The Capitol Invaders Enjoyed The Privilege Of Not Being Taken Seriously.”
- CNN: “Rioters Breached US Capitol security on Wednesday. This was the police response when it was Black protesters on DC streets last year”
