President-elect Joe Biden alleged that Black Lives Matter rioters would have been treated differently if they had mobbed the U.S. Capitol building, a claim lacking evidence but echoed by peddlers of critical race theory and progressive activists.
“No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn’t have been treated very very differently,” Biden said in an address Thursday afternoon. “We saw a clear failure to carry out equal justice.”
US President-elect Joe Biden says that if it had been Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, "they would have been treated very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol"
Latest: https://t.co/N4ccyue25z pic.twitter.com/RLcIKel84D
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 7, 2021
That conclusion, according to the former vice president, was made apparent to him by his granddaughter.
“I got a text from my granddaughter. She sent me a photo of military people in full military gear, scores of them lining the steps of the Lincoln Memorial because of a protest by Black Lives Matter. She said ‘Pap, this isn’t fair,’” Biden said. “A mob of folks stormed the Capitol. Well, we all know that’s true. And it is unacceptable, totally unacceptable. The American people saw it in plain view. And I hope it sensitizes them to what we have to do.”
Despite Biden’s claims, many of the summer riots in the name of Black Lives Matter and racial justice were left unchecked by law enforcement, with billions of dollars worth of property damaged or destroyed.
There is video of BLM rioters bashing cops over the head with bricks and walking away without getting shot, and yet the narrative is that cops are more aggressive with BLM than they were with MAGA yesterday. It's just utterly false. A total lie.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 7, 2021
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris also amplified false claims about the violent rioting, looting, and arson over the summer of 2020.
“We witnessed two systems of justice when we saw one that let extremists storm the United States Capitol and another that released tear gas on peaceful protesters last summer. …We know this is unacceptable. We know we should be better than this.”
.@KamalaHarris: "We witnessed two systems of justice when we saw one that let extremists storm the United States Capitol, and another that released tear gas on peaceful protesters last summer…We know this is unacceptable. We know we should be better than this." pic.twitter.com/Uc1FC8aZKg
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 7, 2021
This idea that the undermanned Capitol Police force just passively "let" a massive, violent mob overwhelm them is entering into conspiracy theory territory https://t.co/MlQ2R5xU1C
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) January 7, 2021
Despite Harris’s allegations, law enforcement officers used tear gas, pepper balls, and other tools to subdue rioters in the Capitol on Wednesday. Multiple people were also arrested following the breach.
HOLY: TEAR gas has been used in the Rotunda.
Members are being told get gas masks under their seats.
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) January 6, 2021
As someone who has covered many of the riots last year, I can say this narrative is simply false. Tear gas, pepper balls, pepper spray, and flashbangs were all used yesterday, just as they were used on rioters in 2020. https://t.co/WdjJXyfa6X
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 7, 2021