(TNS) — The image of a young Black man, curled up on a Dallas sidewalk with blood gushing from his left eye after being struck by a police officer’s rubber bullet during a protest for racial justice, was seared into the national psyche last spring.
Days earlier, protesters outraged over the police killing in Minneapolis of another Black man, George Floyd, in late May, sprinted through the streets of a leafy neighborhood as police in tactical gear sprayed the crowd with tear gas.
But this week, as a mostly white mob of extremists loyal to President Trump smashed their way into the U.S. Capitol, at times shoving police officers to the ground, ransacking congressional offices for several hours and posing for photos with stolen items, police took a decidedly hands-off approach.
On Thursday, as Americans began to dissect the muted police response to such an attack on the seat of government, the violence emerged as a flashpoint in the longstanding national discourse about race and policing.
“This disgusting contrast in policing is far too familiar to the Black community,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
As the rioters stormed the capitol Wednesday, the NAACP offered a simple message on Twitter: “They have killed us for less.”
Trump supporters storm the Capitol and halt a joint session of Congress on Wednesday
The mayhem resulted in the deaths of at least four people — a woman who was shot by the Capitol Police and three others who died as a result of what authorities called medical emergencies —and led to more than 50 arrests by late Thursday. Dozens of officers were injured during the attack, said Steven Sund, chief of the U.S. Capitol Police.
Law enforcement had “responded valiantly,” Sund said in an initial statement, which did not address a flood of pointed questions about whether officers had yielded too easily to the mob comprised largely of white people.
Many of the extremists were wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats and some were waving the Confederate flag or flags that read “TRUMP” and “Don’t tread on me.”
“These mass riots were not First Amendment activities. They were criminal riotous behavior,” said Sund, who added that a “thorough” review of the police actions would follow.
Late Thursday, Sund announced he will resign Jan. 16 after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on him to step down. The attack had occurred as Congress was in the process of certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the November election.
During a TV appearance Thursday, Jeh Johnson, a former homeland security secretary, said the police response deserved close scrutiny.
“There was a failure here,” he said, “and hard questions need to be asked about what happened.”
Johnson, who is Black, said that on a day filled with shocking scenes, among the most disturbing sights were the scaffold and hangman’s noose erected outside the west side of the Capitol, as well as the image of the Confederate flag being gleefully waved by insurgents as they swaggered through the halls.
