# Did pro-Trump protestors get off easy yesterday in Washington protests? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 7, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926 "2021-01-07T15:46:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/1 "2021-01-07T15:46:32Z")
I am sure most here have seen the images from yesterday’s pro-Trump protest in Washington, D.C. Personally, I was amazed at the lack of police response. Sure there were police there and certainly there were some clashes yet the comparatively smaller pro-Trump crowd managed to occupy the capitol. Let that sink in for a minute. When BLM protests were coming through we saw this: [![](https://www.unilad.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/washingtonresponse.jpg) ](https://www.unilad.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/washingtonresponse.jpg) When pro-Trump protestors came through we saw this: [![](https://media.wusa9.com/assets/WUSA/images/ece651c1-e62b-40dd-b61d-46f156b4d4ea/ece651c1-e62b-40dd-b61d-46f156b4d4ea_1920x1080.jpg) ](https://media.wusa9.com/assets/WUSA/images/ece651c1-e62b-40dd-b61d-46f156b4d4ea/ece651c1-e62b-40dd-b61d-46f156b4d4ea_1920x1080.jpg) We have reports of [police posing for selfies with protestors and police letting protestors pass barricades.](https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/vision-emerges-of-police-moving-barricades-to-allow-rioters-into-us-capitol-taking-selfies/news-story/45a9be3adf9b447b53d23cf5536c5d02) Yet we remember police pepper spraying Occupy Wall Street protestors who were just sitting: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/Uc_Davis_Pepper_Spray_Incident.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/Uc_Davis_Pepper_Spray_Incident.jpg) Is this proof enough of police taking sides or do we need more evidence? Some reading: - [Maga v BLM: how police handled the Capitol mob and George Floyd activists – in pictures](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/06/capitol-mob-police-trump-george-floyd-protests-photos) - [‘Double standard’: Black lawmakers and activists decry police response to attack on US Capitol](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/06/us-capitol-attack-compared-response-black-lives-matter-protests/6570528002/) - [Kid glove treatment of pro-Trump mob contrasts with strong-arm police tactics against Black Lives Matter, activists say](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/activists-contrast-treatment-blm-pro-trump-mob/2021/01/06/a59a5a0e-506a-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html) MODS: I was unsure if this should be in GD or Politics or even The Pit…feel free to move as you see fit. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/2 "2021-01-07T15:48:33Z")
You’re not wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/3 "2021-01-07T15:50:13Z")
They were literally attacking the Vice President of the United States. If this had happened at the White House, they would have all been mowed down as soon as they crashed the first barrier. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/4 "2021-01-07T15:53:53Z")
The responses to the BLM protestors were not within minutes or hours of the first protest, it was after days of protests and rioting in addition to the peaceful protests. Nonetheless, the response to the BLM protests, such as the show of force at the Lincoln Memorial, were out of scale with the threat posed by the protests. I have no doubt that if the signs had said “Black Lives Matter” instead of “Trump” that there would have been a much larger contingent of federal force–remember, this protest was planned and expected–and there would have been shooting as soon as the first barrier was breached. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/5 "2021-01-07T15:57:17Z")
Bullshit rationalization from a former police officer in the crowd: [Capitol Siege: Former Oakland Police Officer Among Mob That Marched On Capitol - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI2609BeLKk) Compared to the police attack on BLM protesters who were ‘dispersed’ so Trump could do a photo op, yesterday’s ‘demonstrators’ were handled with kid gloves even as they committed acts of vandalism, looting, threats of terroristic violence, and of course, interfering with the electoral process. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/6 "2021-01-07T16:15:49Z")
I think this goes way beyond police going easy on white fascists. I think someone at the top planned to have an inadequate number of police on hand for what was expected to be a potentially violent mob. I think the police knew ahead of time and planned to let it happen. I hope we get to the bottom of it. (No I don’t have a cite, this is IMHO.) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/7 "2021-01-07T16:23:37Z")
Yes, this all happened with the blessing of the police. And those who were apprehended, along with those who enabled them, will be pardoned by Trump before he leaves office. Disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/8 "2021-01-07T16:26:49Z")
Another reason why someone needs to invoke the 25th Amendment IMMEDIATELY. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/9 "2021-01-07T16:28:52Z")
Adam Kinzinger just lofted the trial balloon: > **[First Republican Calls for Trump's Removal from Office by 25th Amendment](https://www.newsweek.com/rep-adam-kinzinger-becomes-first-republican-call-trumps-removal-office-25th-amendment-1559747)** > > The Illinois lawmaker described the siege of the Capitol complex by a pro-Trump mob as "a wakeup call" to install a new "sane captain of the ship." A second Republican later followed suit to support immediately ousting the president. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/10 "2021-01-07T16:50:07Z")
This commentary is not 100% on the OP’s point but it does cover some of it (and is worth a listen aside from the relevance to this thread): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LJ0Hfc8hvpE/maxresdefault.jpg "American Insurrection at The Capitol") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ0Hfc8hvpE) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/11 "2021-01-07T17:09:07Z")
Three years late and $7 trillion short. Fuck every Republican who only now is jumping on the “Reject Trump” bandwagon after riding the Trumpster gravy train for the last four years. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Dadtheinhaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dadtheinhaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dadtheinhaler)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/12 "2021-01-07T17:37:20Z")
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Trump pardoned whoever they manage to arrest. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/13 "2021-01-07T17:41:09Z")
Are crimes committed in Washington D.C. that would usually be considered state crimes automatically federal crimes? (really asking) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/14 "2021-01-07T17:47:52Z")
Note to future BLM protesters: Put a few white people and a few Trump flags at the front of your march and you will be able to get anywhere you want. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/15 "2021-01-07T17:48:42Z")
Yes. Criminal law in DC is enacted by Congress, so offences are federal and subject to being pardoned by Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/16 "2021-01-07T17:49:44Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Note to future BLM protesters: Put a few white people and a few Trump flags at the front of your march and you will be able to get anywhere you want. Maybe have the BLM protestors all carrying Confederate battle flags and really confuse the police. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/17 "2021-01-07T17:53:59Z")
Since half the comments on right-wing sites say that the violence all came from Antifa thugs dressed up as Proud Boys, you’d think that the police would be have been tougher on them. Didn’t the police get that message? Instead, they posed for selfies with the crowd. Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Dadtheinhaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dadtheinhaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dadtheinhaler)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/18 "2021-01-07T18:02:07Z")
Some US prosecutors from various states are stating that they’ll prosecute Capitol rioters because they committed federal crimes, so that would make them pardon-able (AFAIK). > **[U.S. Attorney DeVillers says he will prosecute Capitol rioters from Ohio](https://www.wdtn.com/news/capitol-protests/u-s-attorney-devillers-says-he-will-prosecute-capitol-rioters-from-ohio/)** > > COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The United States Attorney for the southern half of Ohio said that he will prosecute any person from the area who may have committed crimes during the riots at the U.S. Capitol on… > David DeVillers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, issued the statement on social media, writing, “Make no mistake… Federal crimes were committed today at our nation’s Capital building. Anyone who traveled from the Southern District of Ohio with the intent to commit such crimes will be prosecuted in the Southern District of Ohio.” ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/19 "2021-01-07T18:02:29Z")
I’ve heard differently: it was - RW extremists - dressed up as Antifa … - dressed up AS RW extremists It’s the modern day Victor Victoria gambit. Works every time. You can’t denigrate the strategic thinking among this crowd … ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926/20 "2021-01-07T18:04:12Z")
This twitterer has chronicled the genesis of the story that it was really antifa. [https://mobile.twitter.com/RespectableLaw/status/1347055075751907334](https://mobile.twitter.com/RespectableLaw/status/1347055075751907334) Tl/dr:. 2 of the protesters were identified thru facial recognition software as appearing on an antifa website. Which is true. It’s from a story about neo Nazis. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pro-trump-protestors-get-off-easy-yesterday-in-washington-protests/929926.md?page=2)