On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington Mall and gave the iconic speech of the civil rights era. An estimated 250,000 people were in attendance as part of the March for Jobs and Freedom.
The March was peaceful.
Does anyone doubt that, had Dr. King led a riot that attacked the Capitol buildings as an act of insurrection designed to thwart constitutional processes, that he would have been arrested, tried for sedition, convicted, and then either sent to jail for the rest of his life or hanged from the neck until he was dead?
That would have been the right thing to do.
And, if that had happened, the Capitol Police would have been significantly reinforced and equipped with riot gear, water cannons, the works. The lack of equipment and manpower on part of the Capitol Police (when the command was aware of the potential for a large protest) is among the many disturbing aspects of this story.
ReplyDeleteCan we really call it a riot? If the security force holds the door open and you walk through the door way... if it was a riot it was a weak sad one at best. The fellows in Portland could show them how to riot... lots of fire and graffiti and damage to property and security forces being injured ... oh wait ..that's 'Mostly Peaceful' ... pfft. But hey .. America is gonna do America... it's not my business.
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