The liberal media seem to think that just because Trump-supporting insurrectionists laid siege to the Capitol building on Wednesday, that they can just make up whatever facts they wanted to push their narrative. Thus was the case Thursday when ABC’s World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News pushed the bogus claim that D.C. area law enforcement went lighter on the Trump supporters than they did with Black Lives Matter and Antifa.
It was a baseless accusation that they were more than eager to jump into. “The double standard? Tonight, why the former first lady is posing the question, what if these rioters looked different. As President-elect Biden points out Black Lives Matter protestors were met with extreme force this summer,” announced CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell in the opening tease.
The CBS Evening News was arguably the worst. The broadcast featured political correspondent Ed O’Keefe working as a Biden spin artist. “During the siege, he said his own granddaughter texted him a photo from last summer of a large deployment of armed military personnel guarding the Lincoln Memorial during racial justice protests,” he touted, speaking of President-Elect Biden’s Thursday address.
The problem? The photo of D.C. National Guard troops O’Keefe and CBS highlighted showed them standing with NO weapons. In fact, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) had ordered them not to carry weapons. The other key fact O’Keefe omitted was how they were only called in two days after BLM started to burn parts of the city, including a church across from the White House.
Over on ABC, they debunked their accusations of a double standard in the course of their reporting. At one point, White House correspondent Rachel Scott decried the tactics used against BLM rioters:
The size of the demonstration was similar to this one, months earlier, but the response was not. This summer, when thousands took to the same streets in D.C. to peacefully protest racial inequality, law enforcement was out in full force, military helicopters flying low, tear gas and pepper balls deployed.
But mere minutes before she gave her report, anchor David Muir noted: “The siege went on for hours and you can see the police flashbangs deployed at the capitol to push them all back.” And chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz noted how there were “clouds of tear gas.” That’s not to mention that police were forced to shoot and kill a woman who was trying the break into a chamber of Congress.
At this point, it’s worth noting that the liberal media were willfully conflating the different law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction inside Washington, D.C. It was the Park Police that was used to drive back protesters outside the White House for Trump’s photo-op. But it was Capitol Police who were defending the Capitol Building and they called on the Metro Police for backup.
As for the deployment of the National Guard, it’s reported that President Trump denied Bowser’s request days in advance, and Governor Ralph Northam (D) deployed Virginia’s. There were also reports that it was Vice President Pence who called up D.C.’s Guard.
The premise of their reports was that rioting Trump supporters had it easier and even suggested racism was the key facture.
“When the rioters rampaged through the Capitol, communities of color couldn't help but notice something,” said NBC correspondent Gabe Gutierrez. “A large crowd of white demonstrators breaking into the hallowed halls of Congress, a stark contrast to the heavily militarized police response to the unrest after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.”
But their reporting touted the nationwide manhunt to track down the insurrectionists. “Hundreds of officers and agents are now examining social media photos and video clips asking the public, area hotels, and airlines for help,” boasted NBC’s Tom Costello. “So far, prosecutors brought charges against 55 suspects, eight involved gun charges, one suspect arrested with a semiautomatic weapon, and 11 Molotov cocktails.”
Where was the massive effort to find the BLM and Antifa terrorists who destroyed parts of cities and laid siege to other government buildings across the country? They were trying to make the situation worse by pushing these bogus allegations.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
January 7, 2021
6:34:22 p.m. Eastern(…)
DAVID MUIR: The siege went on for hours and you can see the police flashbangs deployed at the capitol to push them all back.
(…)
6:40:34 p.m. Eastern
MARTHA RADDATZ: They converged on the capitol, scaling the scaffolding, surging ahead amid clouds of tear gas, taunting, screaming, swearing.
(…)
6:47:31 p.m. Eastern
MUIR: We have seen security at the ready in the Capitol before and not long ago, during protests over policing and the long overdue conversation on race in this country, leaving many to ask, how do you explain the stark difference? Here's Rachel Scott.
[Cuts to video]
RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, it's being described as a double standard, mobs storming the United States Capitol from all sides. Law enforcement taking hours to secure the area. And tonight, many are wondering, what if those rioters had been black?
(…)
SCOTT: The size of the demonstration was similar to this one, months earlier, but the response was not. This summer, when thousands took to the same streets in D.C. to peacefully protest racial inequality, law enforcement was out in full force, military helicopters flying low, tear gas and pepper balls deployed.
(…)
CBS Evening News
January 7, 2021
6:31:06 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: The double standard? Tonight, why the former first lady is posing the question, what if these rioters looked different. As President-elect Biden points out Black Lives Matter protestors were met with extreme force this summer.
(…)
6:34:06 p.m. Eastern
JEFF PEGUES: Today, D.C. Police released photos of some of the rioters they are seeking to charge with the violence of the Capitol, breaking windows, destroying congressional offices and fighting police inside and outside the building.
(…)
6:42:55 p.m. Eastern
ED O’KEEFE: Mr. Biden also called out what he and many Americans thought in the wake of Wednesday's violence, that there's a double standard to law enforcement response. During the siege he said his own granddaughter texted him a photo from last summer of a large deployment of armed military personnel guarding the Lincoln Memorial during racial justice protests.
(…)
NBC Nightly News
January 7, 2021
7:08:32 p.m. Eastern(…)
TOM COSTELLO: The priority tonight, for the FBI and D.C. Police, finding the people who joined Wednesday's insurrection. Hundreds of officers and agents are now examining social media photos and video clips asking the public, area hotels, and airlines for help.
(…)
COSTELLO: So far, prosecutors brought charges against 55 suspects, eight involved gun charges, one suspect arrested with a semiautomatic weapon and 11 Molotov cocktails.
(…)
7:10:50 p.m. Eastern
HOLT: The police response to rioters at the Capitol is being compared to the more aggressive police responses we saw during last year's social justice protests. With more on that, here's Gabe Gutierrez.
[Cuts to video]
GABE GUTIERREZ: When the rioters rampaged through the capitol, communities of color couldn't help but notice something.
JEH JOHNSON: Suppose this had been a black lives matter rally, suppose this had been people of color storming the Capitol.
GUTIERREZ: A large crowd of white demonstrators breaking into the hallowed halls of Congress, a stark contrast to the heavy militarized police response to the unrest after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
(…)
