A mob of Trump supporters raided the Capitol building in an attempt to “prevent the steal” of the election, a popular phrase promoted by former President Donald Trump. Since the day of the election, Trump has led a campaign to delegitimize the results of the election, claiming mass voter fraud occurrence despite insufficient evidence to overturn the election. Citizens sought to take their protests to the Capitol building, where they received surprisingly little resistance.
Since the day of the riot, countless news articles have been circulating throughout the internet on the Capitol Police’s inability to prevent the mob from entering the building. Many have suggested that they intentionally let the rioters into the building. One of the more noteworthy incidents was caught on video, in which a Capitol officer is seen taking a selfie with one of the protesters. “There were clearly enormous strategic and planning failures by the Capitol Police, by the Sergeant at Arms and anyone else who was a part of coordinating this effort,” Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said at a virtual news conference.
Given the calamitous uproar that took place, many experts have analyzed the pattern in how police officers have handled the Black Lives Matter protests and the Capitol riot. With the protest at the Capitol building, it is quite evident that the security department did not successfully perform its job of protecting the building and those inside. This oversight caused the death of 5 people, one of whom was a police officer.
BLM protesters, on the other hand, were met with much harsher force. In as many as 140 BLM protests, the police used rubber bullets and tear gas to suppress the protests that were taking place including similar protests that took place in front of the Capitol. While it is important to note the extremes that the police went to in order to maintain peace, it is also crucial to understand the consequences of the response to BLM protests. Damage costs have nearly exceeded $2 billion dollars with close to 25 dead from the protests that took place over the summer. Moreover, many BLM protests were met with tranquility in which officers and high ranking officials stood with the protesters and kneeled with them.
President Biden spoke to this just after the protest, lamenting, “No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesters yesterday that they wouldn’t have been treated very differently than the mob that stormed the Capitol.” Since the day of the riot, many have continued to speculate the differences in how police handled the citizens at the Capitol and those who participated in the BLM/Antifa riots.
