More Capitol Rioters Would’ve Been Killed If They Weren’t White: House Sergeant-at-Arms
NO SH*T
William J. Walker, who was head of the D.C. National Guard on Jan. 6, said the law enforcement response would have been far different if rioters were Black.
If the sea of rioters who stormed the Capitol were not largely white, the outcome would have been far more deadly, House sergeant-at-arms William Walker—who was head of the D.C. National Guard on the day of the insurrection—said in his testimony to the Jan. 6 committee. Walker said he thought that, if the majority of the rioters were Black, law enforcement would have resorted to using deadly force, according to an interview transcript released Tuesday. “I’m African American. Child of the sixties. I think it would have been a vastly different response if those were African Americans trying to breach the Capitol,” Walker said, adding, “As a law enforcement officer, there were—I saw enough to where I would have probably been using deadly force.” President Joe Biden has also previously mentioned the comparison in how officers handled the rioters and how they handled 2020 protests over the murder of George Floyd.
