OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Wednesday, January 6 is a day that the country won’t soon forget.
Pro-Trump rioters swarmed the steps of the Capitol, breached the limited security and marched through the halls of Congress.
The images from the assault on Capitol Hill are now being compared with Black Lives Matter demonstrations last year.
President-Elect Joe Biden called it a clear double standard.
“No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting, yesterday, they wouldn’t have been treated very, very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol,”Biden said.
According to Washington, D.C. Metro Police, 52 arrests were made during the pro-Trump riot, that’s compared to the 289 arrested during a more peaceful BLM protest that took place this summer in the same spot.
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s chaos, the FBI is beginning to investigate and arrest more rioters who stormed the Capitol.
Melanie Buer, an independent journalist who spent time covering BLM protests in Omaha said there was an obvious difference in law enforcement response.
“They get brutalized, batoned, bludgeoned, tear gassed for stepping into the streets, and then you have a group of thousands of people, who very clearly made their intentions known. Within two hours they are destroying offices in the Capitol,” Buer said.
Despite being a journalist, Buer was arrested during a BLM protest on Farnam Street Bridge. She, along with roughly 125 others, were detained for what Omaha Police called perceived violence.
A handful of those protesters, alongside ACLU of Nebraska, have reached a settlement with the City of Omaha in a federal lawsuit that stems from the action taken that night.
Adam Sipple, Legal Director with ACLU of Nebraska says the agreement with the City provides protesters more protection.
“This was a completely peaceful protest on Farnam Street,” Sipple said. “Nobody should have been trapped on a bridge and pepper ball sprayed. The protest should have been protected. Traffic protections should have been continued. We are glad we are moving forward with the City to ensure that these things don’t happen in the future.”
“I am pleased we were able to reach an agreement and set a positive tone for the start of 2021. When common ground can be reached everyone benefits,” said Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.
