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Leaders point out differences in treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters versus Capitol rioters
From the President-elect to local activists, some say there are stark differences between the way police handled Black Lives Matter protests over the summer and Wednesday's rally-turned-riot at the U.S. Capitol.
(FOX 9) - From the President-elect to local activists, some say there are stark differences between the way police handled Black Lives Matter protests over the summer and Wednesday's rally-turned-riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In Minneapolis and across the country, in the days and months following George Floyd's death, protesters were met with chemical irritants, rubber bullets, and hand-to-hand combat from law enforcement.
But when pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, some politicians and activists noticed a "double standard" in how police responded to the rioters compared to Black Lives Matter protesters last summer.
"No one can tell me if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn't have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol," said Joe Biden.
President-elect Joe Biden pointed to images of the D.C. National Guard, armed and wearing camouflage uniforms guarding the Lincoln Memorial during a peaceful BLM protest after the death of George Floyd in early June. while rioters were already inside the congressional chambers before the National Guard was activated on Wednesday. Even though Capitol police had advance notice of the protests President Trump was calling for.
"You saw white men chasing officers up the steps and they weren't shooting them."
Former Minneapolis NAACP President Leslie Redmond says she was teargassed while protesting peacefully for Floyd in Minneapolis and arrested while doing the same thing for Breonna Taylor in Louisville last summer.
Even though one woman was shot and killed by police, three others died from medical emergencies and police made dozens of arrests at the Capitol. Redmond says the vast majority of the mostly white mob was able to leave safely.
"These people were not protesting the death or murder of someone they were upset about losing races political races," said Redmond. "We are fighting for our lives and these people are fighting to be 'patriots.'"
"The first thing Black or Brown people tweeted was 'where are the police now?'" added Jesse Ross.
Community member Jesse Ross sees the chaos at the Capitol as an extreme example of white privilege. He says until the country recognizes its racial inequities, it will never be free of them.
"We can talk about the problems," said Ross. "We can talk about what happened yesterday all we want. But until we get to the solutions, we are just going to stay in the same place."