DALLAS — After rioters stormed the Capitol in Washington D.C., many questioned how law enforcement and capitol security prepared. Spectrum News spoke with President of Paul Quinn College Dr. Michael J. Sorrell about his thoughts on the issue. He says anecdotal data from various protests in the last 10 years proves this claim.
“This isn’t a falsehood, this is facts,” Sorrell said. "The ethnic population of protestors really does impact the police response."
It’s been noted that 52 people were arrested in Washington D.C. Wednesday in response to the breach of the U.S. Capitol. In the height of racial justice protests (May 30th-June 2nd) police made 427 unrest-related arrests in Washington D.C.
“Do you rememberwhat the show of force was those times that we were there?” Sorrell staled. "Just protesting, just walking, chanting, doing what is probably the most American thing you can do.”
The Dallas Police Department said in a statement that “it’s not their practice to publicly critique and or criticize another agency’s handling of a situation without knowing true facts.”
In preparation for protests Tuesday, police said they were in constant communication with local, state, and federal partners. They had plans to have adequate staff ready in Dallas.
“This is not to say that everyone of one color feels a certain way about another color right,” Sorrell stated. “This is just another example of what happens when the relationships are different.”
For now, Sorrell says the best way to prevent unequal treatment from happening is education.
“We don’t have a common frame of knowledge to build relationships with each other upon,” Sorrell stated. “I think until we can do that, it’s going to be very hard to get to the point where we’re talking about how protestors are being treated, because there are so many other things that take place before we even get to that.”
Since Wednesday’s events, President Donald Trump addressed the protestors actions saying he was outraged by the demonstrators who infiltrated the capitol.