A mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol on Wednesday in an attempted coup incited by Trump's lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
As rioters looted, smashed windows, and sprayed police officers with chemicals, people watching the chaos unfold on social media were denouncing the stark difference in response to the attack and last year's Black Lives Matter protests.
Many shared photographs contrasting law enforcement's handling of the two situations.
There are two Americas.
...and here's today.
Trump deployed the National Guard and D.C. police to disperse peaceful BLM supporters for this bible photo op, but the White House is now refusing to deploy the National Guard to control the thugs in the US Capitol threatening US Senators and his own VP Pence.
And celebrities also took to social media to express their outrage over what was happening in Washington.
Some, like Dwyane Wade, expressed disbelief that rioters were able to enter the Capitol unharmed while Black people are killed while sleeping in their own beds or going for a run.
Black people get pulled over and don’t make it out alive. We can’t sleep in our own beds without being killed. We can’t jog without being killed. We can’t walk down the street with our hoodies up without being killed but they can do this??? https://t.co/j59OMKw4LO
This Is Us actor Susan Kelechi Watson specifically referenced the deaths of Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, and George Floyd.
Eric was selling loose cigarettes. Phillando reaching for his identification. Trayon was walking through a neighborhood with skittles. George allegedly had a counterfeit $20. Anarchy in the capitol and law enforcement spent the first hour with their hands in their pockets. Ok.
Cardi B called the situation "ironic," saying, "weren't people just wild animals in the summer for demanding justice and now?"
The irony is pretty funny.........weren’t people just wild animals in the summer for demanding justice and now?🤔🤔🤔🤔......Let me just watch.
She wrote in a follow-up tweet: "Protesters were getting called animals, looters, thugs for rioting and protesting over JUSTICE & EQUALITY by the same people that are out today doing the same shit over ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!"
Others, including Chris Evans, Karamo Brown, and Kevin Hart, encouraged people to imagine how the situation would have been different if the perpetrators weren't white.
Just think of the carnage had they not been white.
Shame on the news referring to these Domestic Terrorist as ‘Trump Supporters’ as if they are peaceful people supporting a president. These are terrorist w/ visible guns! Imagine if they were Middle Eastern or Black... they would not be called supporters & they wouldn’t be alive.
While Gabrielle Union responded to the lack of defence at the Capitol with a straightforward: "WE know why."
Wonder why 🤔🤔🤔 Oh yeah, right. WE know why. https://t.co/K9KvTvAkZt
Kerry Washington quoted a tweet characterising Jan. 6 — which began with the Democrats taking control of the Senate following wins in Georgia — as "a microcosm of US history."
And so in summary... https://t.co/rs57bR9Qqe
Director Ava DuVernay shared photos of the riots, calling the people who stormed the Capitol "terrorists" alongside a quote from Trump.
“I know your pain. I know your hurt. But you have to go home now... We love you. You’re very special.” - Trump to his terrorists
And Viola Davis simply posted a meme.
Just sayin'.....