Defending Capitol Hill

This is belated as heck, but a recommended read/listen nonetheless: what it was like for the Black police officers defending Capitol Hill during the insurrection attempt. There's an article and a podcast episode hosted by the same writer, Emmanuel Felton.

The words of one Black officer, from the podcast:

They looked at me. They yelled at me. They were yelling at me. And I would not let them go past. They all want to go past me? I’m going to beat all your asses. One by one, I’m going to deck all of y’all. Come on. And that’s when one of the guys that was a cop said, “Hey, man, we’re going to stand here with you.” I was like, “No, get the fuck out of my building.” He was like, “This is our building.” And I was like, “This is my goddamn building. I’m in charge here. Get the fuck out.” And that’s when I started losing my temper even more. I mean, I got tears streaming down my face.

A quote from the article about what it was like for a Black officer (I don't know if it was the same one as they are unidentified for their protection) after seeing the footage of the insurrection attempt:

He said that what upset him the most was when he later saw images of a white colleague taking a selfie with the attackers, seeming to enjoy his time with the insurrectionists who were roaming the US Capitol with Confederate flags and other symbols of white supremacy. “That one hurt me the most because I was on the other side of the Capitol getting my ass kicked,” he said.


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