Black Lives Matter protestors VS Capitol Riot terrorists; How racial injustice was demonstrated
The repercussions the black community faced during the Black Lives Matter Movement protests compared to the terrorists involved in the US Capitol riot is a clear depiction of racial injustice.
WASHINGTON- Wednesday, January 6th pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the U.S Capitol building. The mob of people entered the Capitol with ease, while law enforcement proceeded to engage in selfies with these terrorists. Destroying, stealing, and ransacking the capitol these terrorists were using white supremacy to their advantage.
According to NBC New York President Joe Beiden says “No one can tell me that if it had been a
group of Black Lives Matters protesting yesterday that they wouldn’t have been treated very, very differently from the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol.”
WUSA9 holds an interview with UC Santa Barbara sociology professor Victor Rios. Where he identifies the two types of Americas “One that is over-policed, neglected and criminalized, and those are for people of color and immigrants, and then you have an America where you have an entitlement, where you have a privilege and where you can do whatever you want and face very little consequences,” This act of violence that took place on Wednesday only justifies the Black Lives Matter protests and the fight for justice among the black community.
June of 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests took place across the United States following the death of Gorge Floyd. Justice for not only Floyd, but thousands of African Americans was demanded by protesters. Countless years of discrimination and injustice must be put to an end. As protestors fought for their freedom it truly was a fight. These protests were challenged by officials as they displayed extreme antics to stop them. Tear gas, rubber bullets, and an army of enforcement put an end to many of these protests. People being taken away in cop cars, held to the ground by officials, and herded into groups to be tear gassed was only a portion of the measures officials took.
According to WUSA9 between the Capitol police and D.C police they made a couple dozen arrests on Wednesday. In June 2020 in one day at a Black Lives Matter protest D.C police arrested over 300 people.
According to CNN members of the D.C national guard were armed and lined on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during peaceful Black Lives Matter protests, while Wednesday terrorists had already made it into the building before the D.C national guard was deployed. The efforts made during the Black Lives Matter protests to harm and stop citizens were non comparable to the lack of efforts made to stop the terrorists from entering the Capitol Building.
Racial injustice was exemplified as terrorism is treated with fewer repercutions than peaceful protests.
Sources :
Baca, Nathan. 2021. A Tale of Two Protests: Police treatment differed in Black Lives Matter vs. Capitol riots https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/capitol-rioters-get-police-deference-claim-congressmembers/65-cd39ec7c-23bb-4b05-9ff4-fbb053f28986.
Hinton, Eric. 2021. “Police Response To Capitol Hill Riot And Black Lives Matter Protests Appears Black And White To Many”. NBC New York. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/lx/police-response-to-capitol-hill-riot-and-black-lives-matter-protests-appears-black-and-white-to-many/2818478/.
Nicole Chavez, CNN. 2021. “Rioters Breached US Capitol Security On Wednesday. This Was The Police Response When It Was Black Protesters On DC Streets Last Year”. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/07/us/police-response-black-lives-matter-protest-us-capitol/index.html.