Soon after videos of the recent insurrection at the US Capitol made their way onto social media, people began speculating that the capitol police force simply stood by and let the insurrectionists enter the building. To be sure, there are some videos of people walking unimpeded past the police. One video appears to show an officer taking a selfie with one of the mob. But the narrative should neither be “the police did nothing” nor “See, they were let into the building. No violence.”
After some sifting around on social media, it becomes clear that the first confrontations were initiated by those seeking to stop the constitutional process of counting electoral votes. Law enforcement on the scene did not merely stand by and let the halls of congress and the senate chamber be occupied by those intent on overturning the election. Here are a few videos that make the violence clear. Language and violence pervasive throughout.
This video posted to Twitter shows an early confrontation. There is no question the police try to hold the line.
This video, also shot by an insurrectionist, shows the futile attempt of several dozen officers to keep a massive crowd behind a barricade.
This video posted to YouTube documents the “Hang Mike Pence” chant from those who had just been stoked by Donald Trump to that end. Pence at this point was under Secret Service protection. They are at the doors of the capitol.
This video puts the lie to the concept of “Blue Lives Matter” among these perpetrators. A Capitol officer is first assaulted by an insurrectionist, leaving him with a bloody nose, before his loud cries for help while being crushed. One person appears to call attention to his plight while the mass yells “heave, ho” trying to break through. In numerous videos, insurrectionists are heard calling police officers “traitors.” For these people, Blue Lives only seem to matter when Black Lives are in question.
Finally, a British news crew was there documenting the whole sad state of affairs. While there is a lot of violence, it is notable for the interviews it includes.
To be sure, significant conversations, can be had about police preparedness, the failure to recognize the imminent threat, why the president refused to grant the DC mayor’s request for national guard backup, and the differences in how these insurrectionists were treated in the moment versus how other protestors in DC were treated last year, specifically Black Lives Matter protestors. There are also disturbing questions about whether there was collaboration between some government employees and the insurrectionists. These are important and needed conversations and investigations.
But, what does seem beyond questions is that a significant number of people traveled to Washington, DC and on January 6, 2021 breached the nation’s Capitol building attempting to stop the penultimate step in the process of Joe Biden becoming the 46th president of the United States, and they used plenty of violence against law enforcement in the attempt.
