The first glimpse of the deadly tragedy that was about to unfold came at 9 am on the morning of the insurrection of a black veteran of the United States Capitol Police. But it didn’t come from his superiors – instead, the officer had to rely on an Instagram screenshot sent to him by a friend.
“I found out what they were planning when a friend of mine took a screenshot of me from an Instagram story of the Proud Boys saying, ‘We’re breaking the capitol today, guys. I hope you already are. ‘”The officer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from his superiors, told BuzzFeed News that it was just a sign of the chaos to come, that he saw officers regularly finding themselves unprepared and, then defeated and dominated by the crowd.
The official said that while the department’s top management told them to prepare for the Capitol invasion on Wednesday as they would for any other protest, that Instagram post sent a clear message: this would not just be some kind of freedom of speech protest, this was going to be a struggle.
Management’s inertia left black police officers especially vulnerable to a crowd that had been incited by President Donald Trump, a man who has a history of inspiring racist vigilantes to action. One of the most striking videos of that day was of one of his colleagues, another black officer, trying in vain to contain the wave of rioters who invaded the building and were hunting members of Congress.
BuzzFeed News spoke to two Black officials who described a harrowing day when they were forced to endure racist abuse – including being repeatedly called n-word – while trying to do their job of protecting the Capitol building and, by extension, the proper functioning of American democracy. The officials said they were wrong, fighting an invasive force that their managers had minimized, and did not prepare them. All of them had received gas masks, for example, but management did not tell them to bring them on the day. Capitol Police did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request to comment on allegations made by police officers.
Although some of the images from that day appeared to show police officers waiting to let the crowd enter the Capitol building, the veteran officer said they fought for two hours before the attackers gained access. The officer, who has been in the department for more than a decade, said that many of the widely publicized images of smiling looters, many in absurd costumes, wandering the halls, downplayed how well prepared some of the protesters were to overtake the building, and even capture and kill members of Congress.
“This was a heavily trained group of terrorist militias that attacked us,” he said. “They had radios, we found them, they had two-way communicators and headsets. They had bear spray. They had flash bangs … They were prepared. They strategically placed two IEDs, tubular pumps in two different locations. These guys were trained in the military. Many of them were ex-military, ”said the veteran, referring to two alleged tubular bombs that were found outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee.
The policeman also described having come face to face with policemen from across the country in the crowd. He said that some of them showed their badges, telling him to let them pass and trying to explain that it was all part of a movement that was supposed to help.
“You have the courage to hold a blue flag on the issue of lives, and you are fucking out there,” he told a group of protesters he met inside the Capitol. “[One guy] he pulled out his badge and said, ‘we’re doing this for you.’ Another guy had his badge. So I thought, ‘well, you must be kidding.’ “
Another officer, a younger recruit, echoed those sentiments, saying that where he was on the steps of the roundabout on the east side of the Capitol, he was involved in hand-to-hand battles trying to repel attackers. But he said they were outnumbered 10 to one, and described extraordinary scenes in which protesters holding Blue Lives Matter flags launched themselves against police officers.
“We were telling them to step back and go and stop, and they are telling us, they are on our side, and they are doing this for us, and they are saying this while I am getting punched in the face by one of them … This happened to many of us. We were taking pepper spray on the faces of these protesters, I will not even call them protesters, those domestic terrorists, “said the policeman.
Although it was a difficult day for almost all officers on the Capitol, Black officers were in a particularly difficult position, he said, and drew a sharp contrast to the way the police handled the Black Lives Matter protests this summer.
“There is a big difference when Black Lives Matter protests arrive in the capital,” he said.[On Wednesday], some officers were attending to the troublemakers. “
He said what bothered him the most was when he later saw images of a white colleague taking a selfie with the attackers, appearing to have fun with the rebels who roamed the United States Capitol with Confederate flags and other symbols of white supremacy.
“That one hurt me more because I was on the other side of the Capitol getting kicked in the ass,” he said.
He is sure that if a group of black Americans had invaded the Capitol, they would not have obtained this kind of friendly reception from their white colleagues.
“If you are going to treat a group of Black Lives Matters protesters in one way, then you should treat that group in the same way. With this group, you were being kind and kind and letting them come back. Some of them were arrested, but many were not. Everyone who entered that Capitol should have been arrested, regardless of whether they took anything. “
The number of arrests has steadily increased in recent days, but it now seems unlikely that anyone who broke into the building on Wednesday will be arrested for his actions.
Five people died on Wednesday, including a Capitol police officer. One protester was shot and killed by the Capitol Police, while three others died from medical emergencies during the attack.
The older black policeman did not think it was a simple case of treating protesters differently from BLM protesters, but part of a bigger problem of how the agency is run.
“Our boss was nowhere, I didn’t hear him on the radio. One of our other deputies was not there, ”he said. “Don’t you think it’s all hands on?”
The veteran praised the resignation of US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, but thinks more needs to be changed at the agency
“Congress can bring anyone they want to the building. They can go out and meet 200 people and say hey, they are with me. In between. They don’t have to go through security, as long as a congressman says so, ”he explained. “They just want to make Congress happy. So, I think the next chief needs to come and sit down with Congress. “
At the end of the night, after the crowd dispersed and Congress went back to work on certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, the veteran officer was overwhelmed by emotion and collapsed at the roundabout.
“I sat down with one of my friends, another black man, and tears started streaming down my face,” he said. “I said, ‘what the fuck is that, man? Is this America? What the hell happened? I’m so tired of this shit. ‘”
Soon he was shouting, so that everyone at the roundabout, including his white colleagues, could hear what he had just been through.
“These are racist terrorists,” he shouted.
In the seven years since Black Lives Matter became a rallying cry, the image of a white policeman, deciding how and when to enforce law and order, has become ubiquitous. On Wednesday, the Americans saw something different, as black officials tried to do the same, while trying to protect the very heart of American democracy. And instead of being honored by supporters of a man who likes to call himself the president of “law and order,” Black Capitol officials found themselves under attack.
“I was called a black man 15 times today,” shouted the veteran police officer at the roundabout to no one in particular. “Trump did that and we got all that shit from people in our department who voted for him. How the hell can you support him? “
“I cried for about 15 minutes and just let it go.”