Like many of us, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers has watched the footage of rioters carrying Trump flags and wearing MAGA hats storm through the U.S. Capitol.
The footage and images of the police response that have emerged from Wednesday’s insurrection have been highly incongruous with the seriousness of what’s been happening. One clip circulating on social media shows a rioter taking a selfie with a police officer, another shows a Trump supporter carrying a lectern out of the Capitol building, presumedly as a souvenir. Yet another video shows police removing a barrier and letting the mob through the security gate onto the Capitol steps.
According the New York Times, a Capitol police officer said “We’ve just got to let them do their thing now.”
Rivers laid bare the fundamental difference between how police officers responded to white rioters outside and inside the Capitol and what we saw when Black Lives Matter protestors marched peacefully for social justice in cities across America this summer. Protestors were beaten, tear gas was used, some were run over with cars.
“I will say it, because I don’t think a lot of people want to. Can you imagine today, if those were all black people storming the Capitol, and what would have happened? That, to me, is a picture that’s worth a thousand words for all of us to see. No police dogs turned on people, no billy clubs hitting people,” Rivers said.
Doc Rivers on today’s events: “I will say it, because I don’t think a lot of people want to. Can you imagine today, if those were all black people storming the Capitol, and what would have happened? That, to me, is a picture that’s worth a thousand words for all of us to see.” pic.twitter.com/tk9I35Ksgw
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) January 6, 2021
Rivers also went on to note that while today is a bleak day in American history, he hasn’t lost hope for the nation.
“Democracy will prevail. It always does.”