Black Lives Matter group compares Capitol response to previous protests

After Trump supporters violently stormed into the Capitol Wednesday, many are drawing comparisons between the police response seen yesterday as opposed to how officers responded to Black Lives Matter rallies.

News 12 Staff

Jan 8, 2021, 2:42 PM

Updated 1,295 days ago

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After Trump supporters violently stormed into the Capitol Wednesday, many are drawing comparisons between the police response seen yesterday as opposed to how officers responded to Black Lives Matter rallies. 
“They knew this was coming, they should have been prepared,” says Black Lives Matter Chairman Hawk Newsome. 
Newsome says the people who stormed the Capitol Wednesday advertised their effort beforehand--posting about a One Million Gun March. 
Watching the events unfold, he says he couldn’t believe police didn’t use more force. Newsome says he was arrested in May just for shouting at officers. 
He says Capitol police are trained to deal with terrorism, but that he believes they showed no sign of that expertise. "Here you have folks storming the Capitol, you have police officers taking pictures, taking selfies with people who have invaded the Capitol. You have police officers opening up barriers, you have police officers running because they didn't want to hurt white protesters,” says Newsome. 
Newsome says he is not optimistic about change.


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