The ease with which peat Donald Trump’s agitator stormed the Capitol on Wednesday contrasts with the strong security measures that protected federal buildings last June in the face of demonstrations by the death of black citizen George Floyd at the hands of a policeman. The Black Lives Matter movement took to the streets of many cities to protest against police violence. Although most of the mobilizations at the time were peaceful, anti-racism activists found themselves faced with cordons of police, supported by air forces and armored vehicles in many cases.
This is the case of the protest that took place on June 2 in front of the Lincoln Memorial, located near the Capitol. The National Guard had been deployed around the memorial building with some 5,000 of its members, armed and in camouflage. This state militia took up positions before the demonstration arrived and their presence was visible on the steps leading to the Lincoln statue. The National Guard was joined by the Park Police, with agents protected with shields and helmets, and members of other federal security forces. Instead, the National Guard only went to the Capitol on Wednesday when it had been taken over by the radicals of Trump after passing the congressional headquarters police, lacking sufficient means to contain the assailants. The Capitol Police has about 2,000 officers, but it was clear that far fewer acted on Wednesday.
In the first week of June, the White House shielded itself to prevent a hypothetical invasion of Black Lives Matter. A new security fence, raised at full speed, surrounded the official residence of the American president in those days. Perimeter protection included military police, Army tanks, and guard dogs. The soldiers displayed assault rifles, as in any war zone. Lakota helicopters were flying over the city of Washington those days, which offered a warlike panorama never seen before in the American capital. Advocates for racial justice were tear gassed into the streets near the White House.
Resignation from the Police
The ‘defeat’ of the security forces in the face of the mob harangued by Trump has led to the resignation of the head of the Capitol Police, Steven Sund. The resignation comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for Sund’s resignation, which also came under fire from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as well as other lawmakers. It is also very likely that there will be a chain of dismissals in the police leadership.
The invasion of the Capitol has set off alarms among political representatives. The Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Tim Ryan, who is charged with overseeing funding for the Capitol Police, noted that “there have been huge, strategic and planning failures by the Capitol Police. ยป. Also the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, urged to open as soon as possible an investigation in this regard, which he hopes will be approached in a “bipartisan” way.
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