Previous failures

Re “Heartbroken America disgraced by Capitol violence” (Our Views, Jan. 7): Black Lives Matter protests differ from the Capitol incident because they did not attempt to “undermine democracy” — seriously?

Countless videos show the violence that erupted at Black Lives Matter protests — businesses broken into and looted, buildings torched, and people injured at the hands of rioters — the antithesis of constitutionally protected peaceable assembly.

Each and every politician and government leader in this country who failed to acknowledge and swiftly and openly condemn that harmful behavior may have helped set the stage for the occurrences at the Capitol. Likewise, ongoing efforts by news media to draw a distinction between the unruly Black Lives Matter and Capitol incidents, based on the purposes of the protests, seem disingenuous and miss the point.

Such a distinction dangerously evades meaningful address of the political response to the violent acts at Black Lives Matter protests — as a possible precursor to the Capitol rioting — and also ignores the nonadherence to principles of democracy by both the Black Lives Matter rioters that created impediments to individuals’ well-being, and the government leaders who failed to respect and enforce individuals’ rights to property and safe and peaceful habitation during the Black Lives Matter riots.

There appears to be a lot of shame and blame to go around for this mess.

Cynthia M. Owens, Virginia Beach