The first glimpse of the deadly tragedy that would unfold took place at 9 a.m. on the morning of the uprising for one black Capitol police veteran. But it does not come from his superiors – instead, the officer had to rely on a screenshot of Instagram sent to him by a friend.
“I found out what they’re up to when a friend of mine watched an Instagram story of the Proud Boys and said, ‘We’re trampling the capital today, guys. I hope you are ready. 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 that was coming, which saw officers regularly find themselves unprepared and then by the mob manned and overrun.
The official said that although the department’s chief executive had told them to prepare for the storms of the Capitol on Wednesday, as they would for any other protest, the Instagram message sent a clear message: it is not going just be a kind of freedom of speech protest not, it’s going to be a fight.
The act of management has left black police officers particularly vulnerable to a mob instigated by President Donald Trump, a man who holds a record for inspiring racist vigilantes into action. One of the most defining videos of that day was of one of their colleagues, another black officer, trying in vain to hold back the tide of rioters who had broken into the building and was looking for members of Congress .
BuzzFeed News spoke to two black officers who described a disturbing day in which they were forced to endure racist abuse – including being repeatedly called the n-word – while trying to protect their work to protect the Capitol building protected, and added the very functioning of American democracy. The officers said they were wrong and repelled an invading force that underestimated their drivers and did not prepare them. They all got gas masks, but the management did not tell them to bring them in on the day. Capitol police did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request to comment on the allegations made by officials.
While some of the images from that day show officers standing there to let the gang into the Capitol building, the veteran officer said they fought them for two hours before the attackers finally gained access. The officer, who has been with the department for more than a decade, said that many of the widespread images of smiling looters, many in absurd costumes, wandering around the halls, were less well prepared for some of the rioters around the building to overtake, and even capture and kill Congressmen.
“It was a highly trained group of military terrorists who attacked us,” he said. ‘They had radios, we found them, they had two-way communicators and hearing aids. They had bear spray. They had lightning speeds … They were prepared. They put two IEDs, pipe bombs, strategically in two different places. These guys were militarily trained. “Many of them used to be in the military,” the veteran said, referring to two suspected pipe bombs found outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee.
The officer even described that he had to meet police officers from across the country in the mob. He said some of them flashed the badges and said he had to let them through and tried to explain that it was all part of a movement that was supposed to help.
“You have the nerve to hold a blue flag of life affairs, and you are fucking us up,” he told a group of protesters he encountered in the Capitol. ‘[One guy] he pulls out his badge and he says, ‘We do it for you.’ Another guy had his badge. So I said, ‘Well, you have to make a joke.’ ‘
Another officer, a newer yard, expressed these sentiments, saying that where he was on the stairs to the roundabout on the east side of the Capitol, he was engaged in hand-to-hand combat to try to fight the attackers. . But he said they were less than ten to one, and he described extraordinary scenes in which protesters holding the flag of Blue Lives Matter showed themselves against police officers.
‘We told them to back up and go away and stop, and they said to us,’ They are on our side, and they do it for us, and they say it while I’m in my face by one of them … This has happened to many of us. We sprayed pepper in the face by the protesters. “I’m not even going to call them protesters, by those domestic terrorists,” the officer said.
Although it has been a tough day for almost every officer at the Capitol, black officers were in a particularly difficult position, he said, and he drew a stark contrast to how police handled the Black Lives Matter protests this summer. has.
“There’s quite a big difference when the Black Lives Matter protests come out of the capital,” he said. ‘[On Wednesday], some officers were engaged in the riots. ”
He said what upset him most was when he later saw images of a white colleague taking a selfie with the attackers, and apparently enjoying his time with the insurgents wandering around the American Capitol with Confederate flags. and other symbols of white supremacy.
“That one hurt me the most because I kicked my ass on the other side of the Capitol,” he said.
He is sure that if a group of black Americans had stormed the Capitol, they would not have received such a friendly reception from his white colleagues.
‘If you’re going to treat a group of protesters for Black Lives Matters in one way, then you have to condemn this group in the same way. With this group you were friendly and kind and let them walk out again. Some of them were arrested, but many of them were not. Everyone who came into the Capitol had to be arrested, regardless of whether they took anything. ”
The number of arrests has been steadily increasing over the past few days, but it currently seems unlikely that anyone who violated the building on Wednesday will be arrested for their actions.
Five people were killed Wednesday, including a Capitol police officer. One protester was shot dead by Capitol police, while three others died during the attack from medical emergencies
The older Black officer did not think it was a simple matter to treat the rioters differently than BLM protesters, but rather a bigger problem with the management of the agency.
“Our head was nowhere to be found, I did not hear him on the radio. “One of our other deputy principals was not there,” he said. “Don’t you think it’s all on deck?”
The veteran officer welcomed the resignation of Capitol U.S. Police Chief Steven Sund, but he thinks more needs to be changed at the agency
“Congress can bring anyone into the building they want. They can find 200 people outside and say: they are with me. Come on. “They do not have to go through security as long as a member of Congress has said so,” he explained. “They just want to make Congress happy. So I think the next chief should come in and sit down with Congress. ”
At the end of the night, after the crowd dispersed and Congress resumed work to ratify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, the veteran officer was overwhelmed with emotion and broke into the roundabout.
“I sat down with one of my friends, another black man, and tears just began to flow down my face,” he said. I said, ‘What the fuck, man? Is this America? What the fuck just happened? I’m so sick and tired of this shit. ”
Soon he was screaming so that everyone in the roundabout, including his white colleagues, could hear what he had just been through.
“These are racist donkey terrorists,” he shouted.
In the seven years since Black Lives Matter became a rally, the image of a white policeman deciding how and when to apply law and order has become ubiquitous. On Wednesday, Americans saw something different as black officers tried to do the same as they tried to protect the heart of American democracy. And instead of being honored by the supporters of a man who likes to call himself the “law and order” president, the officers of the Black Capitol attacked them.
“I have been called a Negro 15 times today,” the veteran officer shouted at no one in the roundabout. “Trump did it and we got all these fucking people in our department who voted for him. How the fuck can you support him? ‘
“I cried for about 15 minutes and just let it go.”