The PR Wing Of The GOP

[Angrboda]

There are points of comparison. BLM / George Floyd protests were targeting official government functionaries, the police. As was January 6. Both were violent. Both obstructed official functions. We treat an attack on a judge different than we would an attack on a private citizen. Thus an attack upon the police or the legislature is different from an attack on a private firm or non-government organization. On the other hand there are plenty of differences to be noted. Intent. Centrality of the functionary obstructed. Goal. How integral violence was to those intents and goals. Whether the obstruction was aimed at achieving legitimate political goals (police reform) or illegitimate ones (overthrowing a fair election). The latter, btw, falls under the umbrella of terrorism, the former does not. The societal importance of the functionary obstructed. The percentage of actors that were violent. Whether the violence was directed or spontaneous. Whether the violence was encouraged by leaders or not. And so on. To see the two as comparable in scope and degree requires either a general inability to make meaningful discriminations of degree (black and white thinking) or a form of denial. Your call.