Pro-Trump supporters storm the Capitol building in Washington DC, January 6, 2021.

President-elect Joe Biden has denounced the double standard in police response to the violent attack on Capital Hill by President Donald Trump’s supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters demanding racial justice in the country.

No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they would have been treated very, very differently than a mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol, Biden said in a speech on Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware.

On Wednesday, throngs of mostly white pro-Trump supporters, some armed and carrying Confederate flags and others dressed in tactical gear, breached the Capitol building, largely unobstructed by law enforcement officers.

The riot, which was intended to disrupt the ceremonial counting of Biden’s electoral votes in Congress, has been in part blamed on President Trump’s rhetoric and his refusal to concede defeat in the November 3 election. Lawmakers resumed the certification process after a few hours and confirmed Biden as the next president.

The rioters were met with light resistance and it was hours before law enforcement regained control.

Capitol police said 68 people were arrested mostly for breaking a curfew announced by mayor of Washington DC. Dozens were escorted from the premises, not even in handcuffs. Several weapons and improvised explosive devices were found and seized by police.

In contrast, law enforcement deployed overwhelming force in dozens of major cities last year to quash Black Lives Matter protests that erupted across the US following the Memorial Day killing of unnamed African American George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

The National Guard had been activated while police, carrying military-style weapons, used lash-bang grenades, chemical dispersants and rubber bullets to disperse largely peaceful crowds. More than 14,000 were arrested.

Vice President Kamala Harris, a former attorney general of California, said the US justice system clearly discriminated against African Americans and pledged to address the disparity.

The challenge we’re facing in our country is about more than the actions of the few we watched yesterday, she said on Thursday.

It’s about how to reform how to transform a justice system that does not work equally for all, she said, a justice system that is experienced differently depending on whether you’re white or Black.

Activists and commentators were also quick to condemn what they said was a blatant display of racist double standards by law enforcement.

When Black people protest for our lives, we are all too often met by National Guard troops or police equipped with assault rifles, shields, tear gas and battle helmets, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation said in a statement.

When white people attempt a coup, they are met by an underwhelming number of law enforcement personnel who act powerless to intervene, going so far as to pose for selfies with terrorists, it said.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama also commented on the issue.

This summer’s Black Lives matter protests were overwhelmingly peaceful movements, she tweeted on Thursday. And yet, in city after city, day after day we saw peaceful protesters met with brute force, she said.

Other social media users also noted the discrepancy in police approach by posting images of Wednesday’s riot and the protests that took place in June.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post obtained memos revealing that the Pentagon had placed tight limits on the DC National Guard ahead of this week’s protests by Trump supporters, to ensure that the use of force remained constrained.