‘They tried to instigate a coup’: Neal, McGovern denounce president, Capitol rioters
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
HOUSE TELEVISION VIA AP HOUSE TELEVISION VIA AP
Tear gas engulfs the crowd in front of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. FOR THE WASHINGTON POST/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN
U.S. Capitol Police with guns drawn stand near a barricaded door as protesters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Andrew Harnik
Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Jose Luis Magana
Many are calling Capitol police s response toward Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol a blatant double standard. There s one question I just can t shake: What if these rioters had looked like the folks who go to Ebenezer Baptist Church every Sunday? What would have been different? I think we all know the answer, she said. This summer s Black Lives Matter protests were an overwhelmingly peaceful movement our nation s largest demonstrations ever, bringing together people of every race and class and encouraging millions to re-examine their own assumptions and behavior. And yet, in city after city, day after day, we saw peaceful protestors met with brute force. We saw cracked skulls and mass arrests, law enforcement pepper spraying its way through a peaceful demonstration for a presidential photo op, she added, referencing the unrest in Lafayette Park over the summer.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama released a statement this afternoon, forcefully condemning President Donald Trump and the actions of the pro-Trump mob yesterday that stormed the U.S. Capitol.