Striking lessons in black and white

For anyone who had been in denial about it, the events of January 6 certainly brought the racialization of American law enforcement into stark relief. Comparisons between police preparations and responses for the summer Black Lives Matter protests and the Trump insurrection were unavoidable. And we’ve always known that phrases like “law and order” and “blue lives matter” were never intended to imply that White racists should obey the law and respect the police.

Considering that this attack on the Capitol building had been openly planned on social media for weeks, the feeble preparations for it and the ineffective police response imply either stunning incompetence or outright collusion with the insurrectionists. I think the police — mostly white conservatives themselves — were simply incapable of seeing white radicals as a serious threat. And the insurrectionists knew they need not fear the police.

Finally, consider the felony murder rule. This exists in slightly different forms in many states and says that, if a group of people commit a crime and someone dies in the course of it, any of those involved can be charged with murder — regardless of who did the killing. Robbers have been convicted of murder because one of their accomplices was killed by police. Naturally, about 85% of felony murder charges are against Black defendants. Several people died in the assault on the Capitol, potentially exposing all the insurrectionists to such a charge — but, of course, they are white conservatives, so it will never happen.

— David Welch, Chico