During the rise of the Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of George Floyd last summer, Donald Trump and his loyalists frequently shouted empty slogans like “law and order” and “blue lives matter” as their main counterpoints.
They claimed that anyone calling for a more accountable, equal justice system must be anti-police.
But after MAGA insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol in a violent coup attempt that killed five people, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, the phoniness of their law enforcement rhetoric has been exposed.
At the White House, Trump hasn’t weighed in on the killing, and he has yet to order flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the fallen officer.
As CNN‘s Kaitlan Collins reported on Friday, “For unexplained reasons, the White House did not lower flags to half-staff today in honor of the Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, who died last night from injuries he sustained while on duty responding to the pro-Trump mob.”
For unexplained reasons, the White House did not lower flags to half-staff today in honor of the Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, who died last night from injuries he sustained while on duty responding to the pro-Trump mob. The Capitol did lower flags today.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 9, 2021
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi immediately ordered flags to be flown at half-staff to honor Sicknick.
As Trump and other in the MAGA orbit either don’t weigh in at all on the officer’s murder, or drag their feet before issuing a half-hearted statement, they wasted no time in waging all-out war on Twitter for having the nerve to permanently ban Donald Trump.
Folks like Ted Cruz, one of the seditionists responsible for this week’s violent insurrection, lashed out on Twitter.
Big Tech’s PURGE, censorship & abuse of power is absurd & profoundly dangerous.
If you agree w/ Tech’s current biases (Iran, good; Trump, bad), ask yourself, what happens when you disagree?
Why should a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires have a monopoly on political speech? https://t.co/ehgVYtHX7H
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 9, 2021
Donald Trump Jr., who also revved up the mob this week before they stormed the Capitol, threw a tantrum, saying, “Free-speech no longer exists in America.”
We are living Orwell’s 1984. Free-speech no longer exists in America. It died with big tech and what’s left is only there for a chosen few.
This is absolute insanity! https://t.co/s2z8ymFsLX
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 9, 2021
Others in the MAGA orbit, from QAnon congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to gun-toting Rep. Lauren Boebert, didn’t hold back in condemning Twitter for taking away Donald Trump’s favorite microphone.
‘Blue Lives Matter’ was always an empty slogan
At the end of the day, it’s pretty clear that law enforcement officers never truly mattered to MAGA world. Like well-trained soldiers, they just repeated whatever Donald Trump shouted from his rally podium or Twitter feed.
All along, “blue lives matter” was actually just an empty slogan used to mask their own racism at a time when America’s systemic inequality was being exposed for the world to see.
After the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol this week – an attack that left one officer dead and dozens injured – Donald Trump and his band of MAGA extremists have made it clear just how little they truly care about those “blue” lives.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.