TV host Joe Scarborough has let rip with criticism of policing at Wednesday's protests in Washington, D.C., telling officers: "Trump supporters come in and you open the f***ing door for them."
During his Morning Joe show on Thursday, Scarborough asked why warnings about potential violence were not heeded, accusing police of "opening the door for terrorists," and suggesting some officers were "part of Donald Trump's cult."
Both chambers of Congress were evacuated as hundreds of mainly Trump supporters clashed with police. Four people died and 52 were arrested in the melee that followed.
In a five-minute monologue, in which he regularly raised his voice, about the scenes Scarborough called on police to identify the "insurrectionists" involved, and said that Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani "should be arrested today for insurrection and taken to jail and booked" for encouraging their actions.
Joe Scarborough calls for the immediate arrest of Trump, Giuliani and Trump Jr. for insurrection against the United States pic.twitter.com/4z5CPjATwQ
— John Kruzel (@johnkruzel) January 7, 2021
The former Republican representative said he welcomed tough policing outside the Capitol, adding that during his time in Congress, officers "would scream at the top of their lungs" at anyone they saw walking crossing the street without a walk sign.
"And yet yesterday we saw some of these same Capitol Hill police officers patting terrorists on the back, we see them taking selfies with people who are committing an insurrection against the United States of America," the MSNBC host said.
"Politely opening the door for terrorists who had scrawled on the door 'murder the media,' who had broken through this glass.
"Letting these Trump supporters walk through freely, and politely opening doors to the insurrectionists and then letting the terrorists walk out of the same Capitol they had laid siege to and threatened the lives of members of the House and members of the Senate who they said they were coming to get, including Mike Pence.
"There has to be an investigation. How many of these Capitol Hill cops are members of Donald Trump's cult? How many? How many allowed this to happen?"
Video on social media appears to show a small group of officers walk away from gates that had been used as a boundary for protesters outside the Capitol.
The journalist who took the video has since told Newsweek that officers "definitely didn't just open the barriers," but backed away after being threatened while vastly outnumbered.
Newsweek has contacted Capitol Police and D.C. Police for comment on the clip, which has been viewed several million times on TikTok and Twitter, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
Many online commentators have compared the policing and federal response to the reaction to Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality held last summer following the death of George Floyd.
Scarborough also questioned whether the mainly-white crowd that breached the Capitol would have been treated differently had it been mainly Muslim or Black.
Asked by co-host Mika Brzezinski whether those involved were treated better because they were white, Scarborough replied: "If these insurrectionists were black they would've been shot in the face.
"And, my God, if these insurrectionists were Muslim, they would've been snipped from the top of buildings.
"So I want to know from the Capitol Hill Police—what is it, is it just white people, or is it Donald Trump supporters?
"Why do you scream at people for walking across the street, three blocks away from the Capitol? Why are you badasses around the Capitol but then Trump supporters come in and you open the door f***ing for them.
"You open the door for them and let them breach the people's house. What is wrong with you?"
The National Guard was deployed after several hours of chaotic scenes on Wednesday. The New York Times reported that President Trump resisted calling upon the agency before its involvement was ordered by the acting secretary of defense, Christopher Miller.
More than 17,000 members of the National Guard were deployed to support local law enforcement during numerous BLM demonstrations across the country. That is about the same number of active-duty troops deployed in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
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