House sergeant at arms says January 6 would have been different if rioters were Black
Washington DC - William J. Walker, the House sergeant at arms at the US Capitol, shared his thoughts on how differently the January 6 insurrection would have been handled if the rioters were Black.
According to a transcript released earlier this week of an interview the chief law enforcement officer had with the January 6 Committee, Walker openly admitted something that has been on the minds of many Americans.
"I’m African American. Child of the sixties," he began. "I think it would have been a vastly different response if those were African Americans trying to breach the Capitol."
"You know, as a law enforcement officer... I saw enough to where I would have probably been using deadly force," he continued. "I think it would have been more bloodshed if the composition would have been different."
As the House sergeant, Walker was the head of the DC National Guard at the time of the riots. Due to what the House committee's final report described as a "likely miscommunication between members of the civilian leadership in the Department of Defense," the National Guard were not authorized to assist that day until after a delay of over three hours.
Despite this, Walker shared his thoughts on just how serious he believed the incident would be leading up to the attack.
"You don't need intelligence. I mean, everybody knew that people were directed to come there by the president. November was a run-up, December was practice, and January 6th was executed."
President Joe Biden agress with William J. Walker over January 6
President Joe Biden shared a very similar sentiment the day after the riots, stating, "If it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they would have been treated very, very differently from the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol."
"We all know that's true," he added. "And it's unacceptable."
The January 6 Committee have referred the findings of their investigation to the Justice Department, urging that criminal charges be brought against former president Donald Trump.
Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO / UPI Photo