“I never really felt threatened…people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break a law.” So spoke Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, on a radio show after the January insurrection that attempted to overturn the results of a democratic election in what is supposed to be the pantheon of peaceful government transfer of power.
Then, to be sure to make his point, the good senator said that if they (the rioters) were black people, he would have been worried about his safety (paraphrased). This seems to be the mantra of the New Republican Party, as amplified by Always-Trumpers in letters to the editor of this paper.
They weren’t armed because they didn’t have guns? Clubs, pipes, spray irritants…things that could cause bodily harm aren’t weapons in the hands of white people, but they would be in the hands of blacks?
They respect the police? Over 140 police officers were injured in the attack. Some were stabbed with makeshift weapons like fenceposts. Threats directed to Capitol police can be clearly heard in videos.
They were (99 percent) peaceful? The Capitol Building, where the most democratic government on the face of the Earth does its business, sustained over 30 million dollars of damage. Doors and windows broken in, public property destroyed, private property stolen. Classified government documents compromised.
There were direct threats of bodily harm to elected officials. The fact that there were doesn’t mitigate the acts.
The argument that they were angry and had legitimate reasons (stolen election…again?) to do what they did pales in comparison to people protesting the weekly killing of unarmed men and women because they are black.
The comparisons of this “legitimate” riot and the “illegitimate” BLM protests are overtly racist.
Ted Reiss
New Paltz
The views and opinions expressed in our letters section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Hudson Valley One. You can submit a letter to the editor here.
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