Yet over the past year, Black individuals across the country have witnessed and been the targets of brutality from law enforcement as they engaged in peaceful protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
Thomas Jones, president of Monroe County United, said that the difference in the crowds participating in the Capitol riot and the Black Lives Matter events was jarringly clear. While Black Lives Matter protests were largely orchestrated in a peaceful manner by minorities and allies; in Washington, D.C., there were swaths of white supremacist hate groups including the Proud Boys, Nazis, and Patriot Front, who were looking for a fight.