Kid glove treatment of pro-Trump mob contrasts with strong-arm police tactics against BLM ...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Thu Jan 7, 2021, 09:33 AM - Edit history (1)

You don't say.

National Security

Kid glove treatment of pro-Trump mob contrasts with strong-arm police tactics against Black Lives Matter, activists say

By Robert Klemko, Kimberly Kindy, Kim Bellware and Derek Hawkins
Jan. 6, 2021 at 7:56 p.m. EST

When Chanelle Helm helped organize protests after the March 13 killing of Breonna Taylor, Louisville police responded with batons, stun grenades and tear gas. The 40-year-old Black Lives Matter activist still bears scars from rubber bullets fired at close range. ... So Helm was startled and frustrated Wednesday to see a White, pro-Trump mob storm the U.S. Capitol — breaking down barricades, smashing windows and striking police officers — without obvious consequence.

“Our activists are still to this day met with hyper-police violence,” Helm said. “And today you see this full-on riot — literally a coup — with people toting guns, which the police knew was coming and they just let it happen. I don’t understand where the ‘law and order’ is. This is what white supremacy looks like.” ... Helm and other activists across the country who spent much of 2020 facing off with law enforcement officers while protesting police brutality and racial inequality watched with a mixture of outrage and validation as the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol building during sessions of the House and Senate.

For veteran social justice demonstrators, the images of men and women wearing red Trump 2020 hats and clutching American
and Confederate flags walking through the Capitol largely unmolested came as shocking yet predictable evidence of their long-held suspicions that conservative, White protesters intent on violence would not be met with any of the strong-arm tactics that police brutality protesters faced.

[World stunned by subversion of U.S. democracy after pro-Trump throng breaches capitol]

Lezley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown, who died at age 18 in a 2014 police shooting in Ferguson, Mo., which launched the Black Lives Matter movement, said in an interview that the lack of a police response was stunning. “There was no shooting, no rubber bullets, no tear gas,” she said. “It was nothing like what we have seen. Nothing like what we have seen.”

{snip}

Belware reported from Chicago. Reis Thebault in Atlanta and Brittany Shammas in Washington contributed to this report.

Robert Klemko
Robert Klemko covers criminal justice in America, from policing to the broader justice system and the ongoing campaign for reform. Follow https://twitter.com/robertklemko

Kimberly Kindy
Kimberly Kindy is a national investigative reporter for The Washington Post. In 2015, she was a lead reporter on the paper's Fatal Force project, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and George Polk award.

Kim Bellware
Kim Bellware covers national and breaking news for The Washington Post. She previously worked for City Bureau, The Huffington Post and as a nationally-focused freelance reporter. Follow https://twitter.com/bellwak

Derek Hawkins
Derek Hawkins is a reporter covering national and breaking news. He previously covered cybersecurity for PowerPost and wrote about law, crime and politics for The Washington Post's Morning Mix. Follow https://twitter.com/d_hawk

[mitch96]

1. With these actions it sort of says it's ok to do this again... you won't be punished..

But if there was swift retaliation it would send the message, don't mess...
m

[louis-t]

2. Uh, the ones that were lying spread-eagle on the floor

with guns pointed at their heads beg to differ. Also, the lady who was shot to death would like to speak to the manager.

[brush]

3. Weren't the ones spread eagle on the floor staffers and Reps...

afraid for their lives from insurrectionists storming the Capitol?

As for the insurrectionist who got shot, she attempted to climb through a window broken for her and other seditionists to get through the barricade door of Speaker Pelosi's office suite. The Speaker has armed security who did their job to protect the Speaker and staffers.

[louis-t]

4. There was one photo of some of the rioters lying on the floor

with police guns trained on them. I'll have to look again.