Few consequences for angry white men — what if Black rioters attempted a Capitol coup?
A group of angry, mostly white men — let’s call them terrorists — breached the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, the first time that’s happened since the War of 1812.
The pro-Trump mob’s violent attempt to overturn a legitimate election forced a lockdown of the building. Incredibly — and inconceivably for people who look like me — the rioters weren’t sprayed with tear gas or pepper spray. Most weren’t even arrested.
Some of the deranged scofflaws broke windows as they swarmed the Capitol, leaving behind a trail of debris, dust and damage in the historic landmark. Many of the Trump supporters who mounted this desperate and dangerous mob scene appeared to be welcomed — or at least allowed to proceed on their not-so-merry way — by Capitol police officers, some of whom actually took photos with rioters. One woman was shot and later died.
Now imagine for a moment that hundreds of heavily-armed Black rioters had attempted a coup at the U.S. Capitol. Do you think the response from law enforcement would have been different?
“Had it been people who look like me,” U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a Black Democrat from St. Louis, said Wednesday on MSNBC, “had it been the same amount of people but had they been Black and brown, we wouldn’t have made it up those steps. We would have been shot. We would have been tear-gassed. Rubber bullets. That would have happened before we made it there.”
Capitol police were outnumbered and ill-prepared, and reinforcements, including National Guard forces, were slow to arrive. But law enforcement also gave the rioters a wide berth, showing little inclination to stop their forward progress as they stormed the halls of the Capitol. Members of Congress sheltered in secure locations before order was restored. Lawmakers later reconvened to certify the Electoral College vote.
What we witnessed Wednesday was a display of white supremacy and privilege, said Jamila Jefferson-Jones, an associate professor at UMKC School of Law and co-author of “Living While Black: Blackness as Nuisance,” an article that Jefferson-Jones wrote for an academic journal with Taja-Nia Y. Henderson.
“Policing in this country has always been to control Black people,” Jefferson-Jones said. “It’s never been about controlling white people.”
Please remember that many people peacefully protesting police brutality last summer were met with chemical agents, rubber bullets and other projectiles. Indiscriminate and sometimes illegal arrests occurred at all hours — not just after government-mandated curfews.
In Kansas City, law enforcement officers aggressively defended property during protests after the killing of George Floyd. Mass arrests followed. Black folks and others were hauled off to jail with questionable citations. Numerous demonstrators were unjustly arrested or injured by police.
Trump supporters have worked themselves into a frenzy because their preferred candidate lost a free and fair presidential election. No credible evidence backs up patently false claims of widespread voter fraud.
Black people aren’t afforded the luxury of freely roaming government property. In June, members of the D.C. National Guard stood in force on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as protesters peacefully decried police brutality. Police would later clash with those who dared to speak up.
Law enforcement’s response to Wednesday’s pro-Trump assault on democracy bore no resemblance to the aggressive tactics employed when people of color were involved.
“I am clear we are witnessing a double standard,” U.S. Rep. Emanual Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri, said. “In other circumstances, this wouldn’t happen.”
As if we needed any more reminders of that.
