Jemele Hill Says Capitol Police Would Have Reacted Faster if Protesters Were Black

As protesters stormed barricades on Wednesday and eventually gained entry into the U.S. Capitol itself, former ESPN anchor Jemele Hill took to Twitter and asserted that the Capitol Police would have reacted more quickly if the protesters had been black.

Stunning images of protesters inside the Capitol and even inside the offices of prominent politicians splashed across social media on Wednesday afternoon. Many began to speculate as to how the protesters could have gotten inside the building and why more wasn’t done to stop them.

That’s when Hill offered her take:

Let’s just be clear about something: The reason the Capitol police were slow to respond is because they gave these white people the benefit of the doubt and treated it like a joke. Their reaction isn’t the same because they see black people as a threat that needs to be eliminated

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) January 6, 2021

Hill then insinuated that the police protecting the Capitol are racists:

We’ve been told repeatedly that there is a huge white supremacy problem in law enforcement. There are people whose job it is to secure the Capitol who sympathize and empathize with the Trump mob.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) January 6, 2021

Of course, dozens of videos have been posted showing officers of all races resisting and even fighting with protesters outside and inside the Capitol. Including an incident where a female protester was shot in the neck by law enforcement.

Calling the police racists has been a constant refrain for Hill. In July of 2017, she agreed with anthem protester Colin Kaepernick’s characterization of police as “slave patrols.”