Republicans support police — until they don’t. Example: Jan. 6 riot and Capitol officers

I’ve noticed an interesting trend recently. Republicans, the party that “Backs the Blue” and flies the “Thin Blue Line” flag in tandem with the American flag, have discovered a group of law enforcement that they don’t support: The officers who prevented a violent coup of the United States’ government on Jan. 6.

During a House Oversight Committee hearing, Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar (you might remember Gosar from when he skipped the $1.9 trillion relief bill vote to attend a political event hosted by an unrepentant white supremacist) demanded to know the name of the officer who “executed” Ashli Babbitt. This officer, according to Gosar, “appeared to be hiding, lying in wait and then gave no warning before killing her.”

He left out a bit of context: Babbitt, the QAnon-believing Air Force veteran, was one of the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol determined to stop the counting of electoral votes. Egged-on by former president and bankruptcy expert Donald Trump, clad in foreign-made MAGA gear, thousands of Trump followers beat and yelled epithets at police officers sworn to protect the halls of Congress.

Gosar then became one of only 21 representatives (all Republicans) to vote against awarding the officers on duty that day with the highest congressional honor. One of those “no” votes came from Rep. Andrew S. Clyde of Georgia. When approached by Officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten unconscious by the insurrectionists and suffered a heart attack as a result, Clyde refused to shake his hand and quickly jumped into a nearby elevator. Fanone was one of the 140 officers who were injured during the insurrection. One officer was killed by the right-wing mob.

GOP House Minority Leader and Bakersfield native Kevin McCarthy has also refused to meet with Fanone for months, after initially saying he would. McCarthy’s office even hung up on Fanone when he attempted to schedule a meeting. To be fair, when McCarthy originally said he would meet Fanone, he was at a Police Week event at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, so the pressure was on. Blue lives matter, indeed.

Republican support for “blue lives” is both cynical and revealing. When law enforcement finally began dispersing the surging crowd on the Capitol’s steps, one insurrectionist, dejected but comforted by her insurrectionist partner, gave us an illuminating quote: “This is not America…They’re shooting at us. They’re supposed to shoot BLM, but they’re shooting the patriots.” Like the former president said last summer during the George Floyd protests, in a crude invocation of the famously racist 1960s line by Miami police Chief Walter Headley: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” But this time, the police were “shooting” at the wrong people.

It’s clear that many Republicans believe that “Blue Lives Matter” — but only when confronted with the suggestion that “Black Lives Matter,” and certainly not when being held accountable for their actions on Jan. 6. When an overzealous law enforcement response usually deployed against peaceful racial justice activists is turned on Republicans, their support for “blue lives” disappears like their evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

When insurrectionists, who stormed the halls of United States government chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” face the minimum amount of consequences under federal law, the Department of Justice — the chief law enforcement body in the land — is accused of “harassing peaceful patriots across the country,” to use Gosar’s words.

For those Republicans who stormed the Capitol and to those in Congress who voted against commending the officers who were injured or killed as a result, you can support law enforcement. But just make it clear that your support only extends as far as politically expedient.

This story was originally published June 25, 2021 at 6:00 AM.