The New York Times: The protesters against the killing of Floyd are extremists and vandals. The intruders of the Capitol are loved

Sheila Diwan, New York Times reporter and editor on criminal justice, police and prison issues, wrote that the US police handled a stark distinction between the attack on Capitol Hill by white "extremists" last night and the protests over the killing of George Floyd.

she said

that the peaceful demonstrators in Lafayette Square against the killing of Floyd last May were suddenly met with grenades and chemical spray, and were pushed away by police with riot-control equipment to clear the way for President Donald Trump to stand in front of St. John's Church.

The newspaper adds: During those protests, Trump pledged to "control" the demonstrators, describing them as "extremists" and "saboteurs", while security forces fired tear gas and stormed the crowds with unmarked trucks.

Trump threatened at the time that anyone breaking through the security fence outside the White House would encounter "the most horrific dogs and sinister weapons the likes of which I have never seen."

Last night, when a group of vandalized and outlaw Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and disrupted the Electoral College vote count, the tone and initial law enforcement response was strikingly different.

One of the videos showed Capitol Police officers moving to the side of the roadblocks, backing as crowds poured through them.

Inside the building, an officer appealed to a man in a green backpack, saying, "You guys just need to get out." When asked why they had not expelled the protesters, the officer said, "We just have to let them do what they want now."

An avalanche of comments followed, with many indicating that the mob appeared largely white, and also indicating that they would have been treated more harshly if they were black or protesting racism.

Ivanka Trump described the white rioters as "American patriots," while urging them to stop the violence in a tweet she later deleted.

Her brother Donald Trump Jr. said: "This is a mistake and it does not represent us, do not start to act like the other side."

In another video released hours after the attack on the Capitol began, Trump repeated the "false" claim that the elections had been stolen, adding, "But you have to go home now, we love you."