WASHINGTON – The following is a statement from Muslim Advocates Executive Director Farhana Khera on the violence at the U.S. Capitol Building:
“In October, President Trump told violent white nationalists on live TV to ‘stand by.’ Today, they flocked to DC at his request and then stormed the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the certification of the presidential election. For far too long, public officials and law enforcement have criminalized communities of color while they looked the other way as white nationalists and militias have organized, threatened and committed violence. It is a shocking double standard. Today’s events are the result of law enforcement at all levels, year after year, targeting communities of color instead of the real white nationalist threat.
It is astonishing to see law enforcement pleading and even taking selfies with a violent mob of white nationalist Trump supporters in the halls of Congress just months after multiple police departments and National Guard divisions violently suppressed peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters. Muslims, Black people, Latinos and other communities of color have long faced violence and harassment from law enforcement for speaking out against injustice or even just for living their day-to-day lives. Today’s events are a wake-up call that make clear who law enforcement views as a threat and who they think deserves respect. White nationalism is the most significant threat to our safety and security, and it should be treated as such at all levels of government.”
This post was originally published on Radio Free.