Of course they got off easy. The Capitol Police had literally one job. They failed spectacularly at it and instead moved barriers and took selfies as insurrections rummaged through the office of the Speaker of the House and stole shit. I’d guess that we should fire 80-90% of them and get some people interested in protecting the Capitol instead of hanging out and playing buddy-buddy with traitors and fascists. At least the upper levels of management in the CP are already getting the boot.
Yes. For the first there needs to be a harsh cleaning of the ranks, for the second the main issue is one of leadership.
I think you’d have to try really hard to have a better example of white privilege than the Capital insurrection. Compared to the handling of BLM protests, it was a walk in the park.
I’m not inclined to see what Trump’s inclinations are nor to rely on his charity or inattention. He needs to not have a chance to issue that pardon.
There is an argument that this approach kept bloodshed - both the traitorous cretins that attacked out government and law enforcement and military personnel at a minimum. These guys were armed, in some cases heavily armed. BLM protesters by and large were not armed. Going in with force against a bunch of 2nd amendment nutjobs was going to create martyrs. Instead we got photos of a bunch of yahoos vandalizing public property before being tear gassed out of the building - with a minimal casualty count. And with plenty of cellphone evidence to bring charges whenever we want.
I can see the sense in that. I would have still liked to see them throw a grenade onto the Senate floor and have a BBQAnon.
Also unknown thefts of classified and secure documents as they rooted through Congressional offices (including the office of the House Speaker) and the security risk of having “a bunch of yahoos” with unknown intentions trying to gain access to the Vice President and Congress. If they were breaking into a standard building then maybe this would be an argument but they weren’t – they were breaking their way into Capitol Hill.
I agree with everybody that the discrepancy between the responses is unconscionable. What would be better?
- Trump rioters treated like BLM protesters?
- BLM protesters treated like Trump rioters?
How about we split the difference? Somewhere between overreacting and underreacting is appropriate reacting.
Just chalk it up to a “dress rehearsal” of “defunding the police”.
I’ve been meaning to post this: a fact-based article on the difference in LE responses.
I believe that any BLM protester that tries to break into the capital building should be shot.
I believe that any Trumpist who stands around in an appropriate location chanting things should be watched at a distance but otherwise ignored.
I believe that posters who make blazingly false equivalencies should be made to stand in the corner.
This not quite right. DC criminal law is enacted by Congress but that doesn’t make it federal law. DC is generally treated like state law, although felonies are prosecuted by a U.S. attorney and the DC court is operated by the federal government. Federal law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction in DC so you could be charged with a federal crime, depending on the crime and who is the arresting officer. If you commit a felony that is city-controlled property and are arrested by DC police it is not a federal crime. Crimes committed on federal property, like the Capitol, are definitely federal crimes. So are crimes committed on federal property in any state, like a federal courthouse or national park.
It was an insurrection. Not a coup. Although I am sure if it had grown into an actual coup attempt Trump would have been fine with that but for that to succeed you really need the military to get in on it.
I do not know if a pardon has to be explicit, e.g. “I pardon bobot for committing crimes X, Y and Z” or if it can be done as, “I pardon anyone for any crimes committed at the capitol on January 6, 2021.”
I imagine he could blanket pardon all accusations of trespass and property damage but leave in place any violent acts.
I dunno…the pardon power is pretty broad.
Some security experts disagree with some of what you suggest:
Insider spoke with three officials on Thursday morning: a French police official responsible for public security in a key section of central Paris, and two intelligence officials from NATO countries who directly work in counterterrorism and counterintelligence operations involving the US, terrorism, and Russia.
They said the circumstantial evidence available pointed to what would be openly called a coup attempt in any other nation. None were willing to speak on the record because of the dire nature of the subject.
< snip >
The French police official said they believed that an investigation would find that someone interfered with the deployment of additional federal law-enforcement officials on the perimeter of the Capitol complex; the official has direct knowledge of the proper procedures for security of the facility.
< snip >
“You cannot tell me I don’t know what they should have done. I can fly to Washington tomorrow and do that job, just as any police official in Washington can fly to Paris and do mine,” the official said. The official directs public security in a central Paris police district filled with government buildings and tourist sites.
“These are not subtle principles” for managing demonstrations, “and they transfer to every situation,” the official said. “This is why we train alongside the US federal law enforcement to handle these very matters, and it’s obvious that large parts of any successful plan were just ignored.” SOURCE
Only if you’re the type of person who plans on violently commandeering government property.
I think a closer comparison would be CHAZ/CHOP in Seattle. The cops let that go on for quite a while.
I concur with this thinking, but where do you draw the line? The whole world saw a unorganized mob take-over the nation’s Capital with minimal supervision - suppose someone with a backpack or suitcase sized bomb decided to blend-in - someone like that nut in Nashville. He coulda just walked-on in with the rest of the mob, had he waited a week. IMHO their way should have been forcefully blocked from the get-go and access never gained. Terrorists around the world probably took notice - Didn’t Iran threaten the Capital that very day?
To be fair, one zealot with a bomb strapped to them is a whole different security problem from letting a mob occupy a building (and our capitol no less so super worse).
IIRC some pipe bombs were found in this event although I have not heard a lot of detail on that.