POLICE RESPONSE BAFFLING — AND REVEALING

The violent takeover of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday by pro-Donald Trump rioters will reverberate long after his presidency is on the ash heap of history. But in the short term, there needs to be a sharp focus on two clear issues.

The first issue is how did the well-funded, experienced Capitol Police force — which has 2,000 officers, more than the city of San Diego — fail to anticipate that a gathering of thousands of Trump supporters would take a violent turn on the day Congress was supposed to certify the Electoral College vote going against him. Remember, Trump had long called for a “wild” protest on Jan. 6.

Politico reported that there was broad support among members of Congress to oust the entire senior leadership of Capitol Police. No wonder. Washington, D.C., police — who had to come to the rescue when Capitol Police were overwhelmed — fully anticipated the possibility of riots, and other law enforcement authorities expressed baff lement over

Capitol Police’s unpreparedness.

The second issue is much more profound. In the six-plus years since unarmed Black teen Michael

Brown was shot and killed by police in Ferguson,

Missouri, triggering a wave of activism and demonstrations, Americans have grown accustomed to seeing rough police treatment of protesters on a fairly regular basis. Yet on Wednesday, Capitol Police seemed at times deferential to Trump supporters. Yes, one officer shot and killed an Ocean Beach woman who traveled to the protest, and one officer died Thursday of injuries. But there were few arrests and little evidence of officers attacking protesters.

This can be seen as an example of de-escalation practices that police reformers have long sought.

But it can also be seen as an example of a massive double standard in how officers deal with mostly

White Trump supporters and those who come to

Black Lives Matters events. Jan. 6, 2021, will long be remembered as revealing — not just about how

Trump incited a riot among his most ardent supporters but as an explicit display of White privilege.