The world has criticised scenes seen in America as Congress tried to ratify Joe Biden's presidential election win
UNRULY MOB: A protester screams "Freedom" inside the Senate chamber after the U.S. Capitol was breached by a mob during a joint session of Congress on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump (Photo via Getty Images)
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump encouraged rioters to storm the US Capitol building, and then told them that they were very special, in a video that has now been taken down by both Twitter and Facebook.
At the end of the video he did ask rioters to go home and remain peaceful, in the event that left four people dead.
Not for the first time, Trump repeated completely false claims that the US Presidential election results were fraudulent.
Recently, the Washington Post leaked an audio recording of Trump asking Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to change the outcome of the state’s presidential elections.
However, the US congress has now certified Joe Biden’s election victory, and he will be sworn in on 20 January.
The scenes in America have attracted worldwide criticism and condemnation – with many pointing out that rioters seemed to be treated very differently because they were white.
TV Executive and social commentator Danielle Dash said: “The trauma of processing the state violence Black people faced in the summer for peacefully protesting versus white people storming the Capitol with impunity is overwhelming.
“It weighs heavy on the heart because this was always about race and racism.”
Writer and broadcaster Reni Eddo-Lodge said: “Maya Angelou said, “when people show you who they are, believe them”. Relevant then, relevant now, relevant forever.”
This sentiment was even repeated by Piers Morgan, who said rioters would have been treated differently if they were Black or muslim.
Others have pointed out that the rioters planned openly on social media for weeks, which raises questions about the lack of police presence.
Dangerous rhetoric
Social media platforms have recognised the danger of Trump’s rhetoric.
Guy Rosen, VP of Integrity at Facebook wrote: “This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video.
“We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”
The current US president has also been suspended from Twitter, who say he severely violated their civic integrity policy.
The social media platform have said they will permanently suspend the current president’s account if certain tweets are not taken down.
Many said that the scenes in America seemed like they came from “third world” countries, while others pointed out that this rhetoric was offensive.
Interestingly, the storming of the Capitol building comes almost 30 years after similar scenes in South Africa, where several hundred white extremists also interrupted a democratic process in 1993.
People have pointed out that a rioter raised the Confederate flag inside the US Capitol building, something that did not even happen during America’s civil war.
The flag is widely seen as offensive by Black people due to its historic origins.
In 1861, 11 states broke away from America when Abraham Lincoln was elected president.
Lincoln had argued that slavery should not be extended to new territories. People in the South who enslaved Black people wanted to continue doing so.
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