Ophelia Kimber, Staff Writer
DOUBLE STANDARD: The contrasts in response during the attempted coup on January sixth and this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests are baffling.
Right when the world thought 2021 couldn’t be any worse than its predecessor, on January 6, the U.S. Capitol fell victim to one of the most disgraceful moments in American history. In an attempt to overthrow the democratic process and confirmation of now President Joe Biden’s victory, violent crowds of Trump supporters swarmed the Capitol. Not since the War of 1812, over 200 years ago, has a breach in the Capitol such as this one occurred. As the FBI and politicians investigate how to move forward, members of both parties have been drawing comparisons to the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
After being defeated in the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump devoted his final days in office to spouting baseless voter fraud conspiracies. Nearly 86 judges, including members of the Supreme Court, have rejected lawsuits from President Trump and his supporters; however, he continues to espouse the idea that the election was stolen. The attempted coup followed a rally at the Ellipse where the former President encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol, suggesting they “show strength” and “be strong.” Around 2:00 p.m. his supporters broke through Capitol police barricades and entered the building. As congressmen and women were hurriedly evacuated, the rampage continued. Trump’s supporters broke into offices, posed for photos, and looted the Capitol building. In an interview with 60 Minutes, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi expressed that some insurrectionists appeared to have been planning actions far more extreme than just the breach. She claimed that “The evidence is now that it was a well-planned, organized group with leadership and guidance and direction. And the direction was to get people.” This comes after one insurrectionist was spotted with zip tie handcuffs, pipe bombs were discovered, a pickup truck was found with explosives and guns two blocks from the Capitol, and mobs that were searching the building for Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Photo courtesy of NSPR.
Throughout the summer of 2020, after the death of George Floyd, thousands of Americans in all fifty states flocked to protest police brutality and systemic racism in the justice system. According to ACLED, a data collecting and crisis mapping platform, with protests in over 2,400 distinct locations violent demonstrations occurred in fewer than 220. To put that into perspective, out of the thousands of Black Lives Matter protests last year, 93% of them remained peaceful. Important to note as well is that many of those who appeared against the BLM protests last summer were those that likely supported President Trump and “backed the blue,” meaning that they supported the police. Where did the latter group’s respect for police go when the crowd at the Capitol was ignoring all orders by police to disperse? When some were pulling an officer down stairs and threatening to shoot him or crushing another in between a door? The answer is, that respect never existed — blatant hypocrisy is the only way to describe it.
Photo courtesy of CNN.
It’s no surprise that the recent events at the Capitol have reignited conversations about the BLM protests. Members of both the Democratic and Republican parties have been drawing comparisons between the protests and the Capitol breach. The largest distinction: police response.
On June 2, 2020, as BLM protestors peacefully sat outside the Capitol, they were met with the National Guard holding assault rifles and dressed in camouflage. In contrast, on January 6, the National Guard wasn’t even summoned until Trump supporters were already inside the Capitol. On June 1, 2020, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, BLM protestors lying on the ground were fired at with tear gas, pepper balls, and pepper spray. That same day, the same event occurred in Huntington Beach, California, with police firing pepper bullets at a crowd of protestors lying face down. To contrast the two even more, during the Capitol breach, a Trump supporter stopped to take a selfie with a Capitol Hill Police Officer. While tear gas was used at the Capitol, it’s the situational difference between when it was used then and at BLM protests that strike a nerve. The protestors on June 1 in Kalamazoo and Huntington Beach were not threatening the democratic process in any way, nor were they harming the individuals in uniform that stood before them. The same could not be said for the attempted coup on the sixth.
Photo courtesy of CNN.
Although the FBI continues investigations, on the day of the breach only 52 people were arrested, while according to Forbes more than five times the amount of arrests were made (289) on June 1, 2020 alone at a Black Lives Matter protest. The Washington Post estimates that nearly 42,000 arrests were made across 49 states during protests last summer. This huge discrepancy between events leaves politicians, activists, and citizens bewildered. Many politicians have even spoken out about the distinction. President Joe Biden tweeted on January 7: “No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protestors yesterday that they wouldn’t have been treated very differently than the mob that stormed the Capitol. We all know that’s true — and it’s unacceptable.” Vice President Kamala Harris did the same, distinguishing between the “two systems of justice” in America — one for white people, and another for people of color. Former President Trump’s response to the two were wildly different as well. He tweeted last summer that BLM protestors were “thugs” and that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” However, when insurrectionists swarmed the Capitol, Trump referred to them as “great patriots who have been badly and unfairly treated.”
To draw parallels between the violence at the Capitol and the BLM protests of last summer is erroneous, and to call the events of January 6th a “protest” would be a blatant lie. The violence at the Capitol incited by former President Trump and carried out by right-wing extremists was nothing less than an attempted insurrection. The response that the world witnessed on January 6th by law enforcement and the President of the United States during the Capitol breach prove that the worst is not behind America. There have been moments in history America has proven its greatness, and this is most certainly is not one of them. It is time for those in power to take accountability for the blatant double standard and citizens to open their eyes to the injustice.