The attempted coup by a contingent of Trump supporters that was incited by the President and his enablers on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, in order to try to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the November election will leave a stain on our country forever.

It is very important that we all speak the truth about what happened on Wednesday. MAGAts are already trying to re-write history and we can’t allow that to happen.

The biggest thing they are doing is making false comparisons between the BLM protests over the summer of 2020 and the insurrection attempt. The amount of false equivalence being pushed is astounding. So, let’s break it down, shall we?

REASONS BEHIND THE PROTESTS

BLM: the on-going pattern of murders of unarmed black men and women by law enforcement with no justice or accountability.

Insurrection: trying to violently stop the Constitutionally mandated process of certifying the Presidential election based on the lie that election fraud was rampant and the Presidency was stolen from Trump.

PROTESTS OR RIOTS?

BLM: literally millions of people protested across the country. A very, very small percentage of the protests turned violent based on the actions of the crowd. In many cases, violence was incited by law enforcement who used storm trooper tactics to break up lawful protests.

While there was property damage at some of the protests, the vast majority of them were completely peaceful (including the one my family attended).

As far as I know, there were no deaths as a result of the protests other than the murder of protestors by Kyle Rittenhouse who illegally crossed state lines with a semi-automatic rifle.

While there was widespread property damage in some cities, BLM rioters did not threaten the personal safety of any elected officials.

Insurrection: the percentage of protestors who turned into rioters was several times higher than what happened at the BLM protests that turned violent. I’m not sure it was a majority but it was a significant minority.

The rioters damaged government property, desecrated symbols of our democracy (taking down American flags and replacing them with Trump and Confederate flags), and threatened the personal safety of our duly elected representatives.

There were photos of some rioters carrying zip tie handcuffs whose only purpose would be to capture and restrain people inside the Capitol – God only knows what would have happened if they had breached the House and Senate chambers while lawmakers were inside.

LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE

BLM: law enforcement was put in place well ahead of time to proactively control the crowds. In many cases, without provocation, they attacked the peacefully protesting crowd who were executing their First Amendment rights, including members of the press, with rubber bullets, tear gas, mace, and flash bangs. In one particular case, federal LEOs attacked peaceful protestors in order to clear the way for Trump to have a photo op in front of a church without the approval of the church’s clergy.

During some of the protests, unmarked LEOs in rented SUVs picked up protestors off the streets and whisked them away. I don’t know what happened to these people.

Insurrection: the number of LEOs assigned to maintain safety was wholly inadequate to deal with the crowds. Some of those that were there completely abdicated their responsibility to protect the site and maintain control.

There were several cases where LEOs were seen inviting crowds in, taking selfies with protestors, and stepping aside to allow rioters to damage property and attempt to breach the House and Senate chambers.

Once inside the Capitol, the police response was mixed. In some cases, the rioters met strong, active resistance from LEOs. In others, the LEOs just stepped aside and watched the events unfold. Some arrests were made but many rioters just walked out untouched.

There were also several examples of heroic behavior on the part of LEOs. In the most extreme case, one paid with his life after being beaten with a fire extinguisher by rioters who are guilty of murder.

INCITEMENT

BLM: as far as I know, there was no effort by anyone in a position of government leadership that incited any violence at BLM protests. They were encouraged to protest but violence and rioting was roundly condemned.

Insurrection: Trump and his supporters have been inciting violence ever since the Presidential election by endlessly promoting conspiracy theories and lies that the election was stolen from them. No evidence was ever presented that was sufficient to convince the courts in spite of over 60 lawsuits, many of which were presided over by Republican judges.This went beyond Trump and his inner circle of loony tunes like Don Jr and Guiliani and extended to enablers in Congress like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. The rhetoric continues to this day.

The very day of the protest, Trump encouraged the crowds to march on the Capitol and let their voices be heard. While he stopped short of using the words, “Storm the Capitol and stop the certification process by using violence against Representatives and Senators”, he used words like, “We can’t stop the fight.” But his message was clear.

I’m sure there are more aspects of this fatally flawed comparison that I haven’t covered here so please feel free to add to it in the comments. Then, use it as talking points to push back on the bullshit some of your conservative friends and family members are probably pushing on social media. We can’t allow their lies to go unchallenged.