Rioters breached the Capitol as they waved pro-police flags. Police support on the right may be erod

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Rioters breached the Capitol as they waved pro-police flags. Police support on the right may be eroding, experts warn.

By Marissa J. Lang and Peter Jamison
1/8/2021, 7:52:20 p.m.

A boom from the Capitol steps sent protesters scurrying back. Stun grenades had begun to rain down on the mob that had laid siege to the U.S. Capitol for nearly three hours.

A man standing on a folding chair on the Capitol lawn raised a middle finger toward the advancing line of police and joined in a chant quickly sweeping the grounds: “Traitors! Traitors! Traitors!”

In a crowd where some carried flags bearing a thin blue line — a pro-police symbol that critics claim also stands for white supremacy and opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement — and shirts adorned with “Blue Lives Matter,” a tide of anger and frustration rose as officers pushed them back. Nearly three hours after the building was breached, police cleared the grounds and used batons and chemical munitions to confront the mob.

“You should be on our side,” a woman in a Trump 2020 sweatshirt called at them. “ ‘We the people’ means police, too!”

-snip-

Police experts worry this souring sentiment may lead to more violence in the months ahead. They caution that officers in Washington should prepare to be met with increasing hostility from crowds that previously have clamored for selfies and handshakes from them.

“In general, the public has this mistaken assumption that the police are there to serve and protect them,” Maria Haberfeld, a professor of police science at John Jay College, said. “The police do what the politicians and other officials tell them to do or not to do.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/capitol-police-officers-support/2021/01/08/a16e07a2-51da-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html

[apcalc]

1. Insurrection, not riot. With intent to overthrow the government.

[dalton99a]

2. +1

[NoRoadUntravelled]

3. The two largest police unions in the country endorsed Trump for 2020.

In fact, they were the only unions to do so.
It's not a stretch to see how police support of Trump led Trump supporters to believe they would find police support in their siege of the Capitol.
Now that they've found out differently they could very well perceive the police as traitors to their vigilante aspirations to overthrow the government as directed by Trump. Naturally, for these individuals who lack critical thinking skills, increased violence is an easy go-to answer.
The police union's support of this populist president has done nothing to make officers safer on the streets and may have just created a new cohort of individuals who will see them as the enemy.

[2naSalit]

4. +1

[zipplewrath]

5. They may have been complicit

There are suggestions that individuals within the capital police may have aided the intrusion. There's also suspicion within the FBI that some of the individuals have law enforcement backgrounds. Mostly the ones seen with the zip ties. Insurrections frequently involve people within the government, law enforcement, and the military. No one should be surprised if this is discovered this time. They've already discovered that a local fire fighter was up there inside the capital building just outside the Speakers Office.

[NoRoadUntravelled]

6. This makes sense given large number of LEO who have supported Trump.

The irony here is that their support of this lawless president is now lost on Trump supporters who will now view them as the enemy.

[LizBeth]

7. Seattle police boss was pissed finding out two of his people were there, were a fellow cop was

murdered. Will matter to some.