Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said in an interview this week he did not feel unsafe during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot but might have if Black Lives Matter protesters and far-left “antifa” activists had demonstrated there, setting off a new wave of criticism.
“I’ve also been criticized because I made the comment on Jan. 6 – I never felt threatened, because I didn’t,” Johnson said Thursday on “The Joe Pags Show,” referencing the insurrection that unsuccessfully sought to halt the certification of the Electoral College results.
“Even though those thousands of people were marching on the Capitol were trying to pressure people like me to vote the way they wanted me to vote, I knew those were people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law, so I wasn’t concerned,” he continued.
“So had the tables been turned, Joe, this could mean trouble. Had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned.”
Johnson’s remarks flew in the face of video showing pro-Trump rioters attacking police officers who were guarding the Capitol complex before the mob overran law enforcement and ransacked the building.
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Johnson’s latest remarks set off a wave of recriminations, with critics calling his equivalence between the different groups racist.
“Senator Johnson’s remarks are racist and unacceptable. There is nothing patriotic about storming the Capitol to attempt to overturn an election and murder elected officials. Apparently for Ron Johnson, simply being Black is a bigger offense than launching a violent insurrection. Ron Johnson is an embarrassment to the United States Senate and the state of Wisconsin. He needs to resign immediately,” Jessica Floyd, president of Democratic super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, said in a statement Friday.
“What, white people love this country and Black people don’t? That’s exactly what he’s saying,” Wisconsin state Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D), who is Black, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Johnson responded to the criticism by noting the violence that stemmed from some protests last summer.
“Out of 7,750 protests last summer associated with BLM and Antifa, 570 turned into violent riots that killed 25 people and caused $1- $2 billion of property damage. That’s why I would have been more concerned,” Johnson said in a statement obtained by The Hill.
The senator appeared to be citing data from a report released by the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project in September. That report, which identified thousands of protests between May and August, found that more than 90 percent of demonstrations were nonviolent.
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- Discussion
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Ron Johnson said he did not feel unsafe during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot but might have if Black Lives Matter protesters and far-left "antifa" activists had demonstrated there https://t.co/AJdTYg2FCQ
— The Hill (@thehill) March 13, 2021
Johnson may have felt safe because he could have been in on the planning and execution of the attempted coup. Perhaps he knew the invaders had set targets like Pence and Pelosi and would have known to leave the cult members like him alone.
Rewriting the history of Jan 6 to make the rioters who threatened Pence, Pelosi, AOC peace-abiding protestors while describing BLM protesters as violent. https://t.co/ruKdVwdXsv
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 13, 2021
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