Written By: Maha Madapoosi| June 17, 2022

The comparison of Trump riots to Black Lives Matter protests has been ongoing since the election of President Trump in 2016. The right-wing supporters of Donald Trump have been seen on social media, the news, etc. displaying their disagreements towards the Black Lives Matter movements. The real question is what really differentiates the Trump riots and the BLM protests? The answer is quite complex, there are instances where the BLM protests which are meant to be peaceful, turn violent. Additionally, there are also occurrences where riots can be instigated to become violent when in reality, they are protests to begin with. Therefore, no true difference is between these two activities; instead, they are similar in origin, but can change in an instance. Right-wing radicalists claim that “all lives matter” and that BLM is nothing but a, “violent terrorist group.” When in reality, Trump’s Proud Boys exhibit aggravated behavior and racially motivated tendencies much like the Ku Klux Klan. 

Proud Boys and the Capitol Riot

This group of new-age white nationalists is among the many perpetrators involved in the January 6th insurrection on the United States Capitol. One particular individual was able to get into the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and sift through government documents with little resistance. This insurrection was also instigated by Donald Trump amidst his loss in the 2020 Presidential Election, “If you don't fight like hell you're not going to have a country anymore” and “We are going to the Capitol.” This was their attempt to overturn the result and return Trump to the Presidential spot. Along with the right side’s claim of BLM being the real problem because of their violence and “rioting,” the insurrection of the right side brought about more carnage than what was actually talked about in the news. A total of five people were killed in this incident, one of a drug overdose, one shot by Capitol Police, and 3 of natural causes. This same group of individuals are the people who “Back the Blue” and in turn, they caused injuries to almost 140 Capitol Police officers and caused 4 officers to commit suicide within 7 months of the attack because of the PTSD and traumatic situation they were placed in.

Black Lives Matter Protests

Black Lives Matter has been a prominent group for years now; however, it was repopularized in 2020 because of the unjust killing of George Floyd and advocates for the many other incidents occurring because of police brutality.Their protests are peaceful and they want change. Specifically, in the realm of policing reform and police brutality. As opposed to resorting to violence or blatantly attacking the capitol, BLM protests utilize peaceful protests to advocate for policing change. Black Lives Matter protests are civil, calm, nonviolent protests that occur across the nation usually following the tragedy of a Black individual being killed by police. However, much like the riots, these protests can also turn violent like the Minnesota BLM riot. It may have almost been misinterpreted by the actions of looters in light of the protests which were not endorsed by the BLM movement. Another instance of violence from a BLM protest was caused by Kyle Rittenhouse who shot and killed two people at a peaceful protest.

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Resources:

https://www.pewresearch.org/2021/01/29/how-america-changed-during-donald-trumps-presidency/

https://blacklivesmatter.com/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56004916

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_States_Capitol_attack

https://www.newsweek.com/proud-boys-intended-kill-mike-pence-nancy-pelosi-fbi-witness-says-1562062

https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-Capitol-attack-of-2021

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/2/kyle-rittenhouse-instigated-bloodshed-at-blm-protest-prosecutor

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-guide-calls-blm-terrorist-group-draws-outrage-74507631

Kyle Rittenhouse Incident Explained – Necessary Behavior

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55640437

https://nypost.com/2022/02/05/man-who-tried-to-burn-minneapolis-school-during-blm-riots-gets-probation/

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/black-lives-matter-on-chicago-looting-black-lives-more-important-than-downtown-corporations/2320685/

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Race, US Politics, Black Lives Matter