Found this sitting in my blog unpublished. Publishing now.

I’ve been watching the videos of the officers being beaten, smashed and attacked by the so-called patriots at the Capitol last week. In some cases, the Blue Lives flag is in the same frame as the beatings. I don’t see how any moral person can watch this and see it for anything other than what it is, domestic terrorism, insurrection, attempts to murder and start civil war  – for one man.

I need to say something about blue lives. I care about them and have been guilty of not saying this loudly enough. I have family members and friends who are police officers, and I love them and want them to be safe. That does not negate my passion for the Black Lives Matter movement and I see these as two separate things. There are good cops and bad cops, good people and bad people. I did not speak out with anger or outrage after the marches last summer, and, I have been criticized for that – as if I have no right to be appalled at the insurrection due to not voicing any concern over previous riots. That is ludicrous, as they are in no way even close to the same thing. I do acknowledge that some BLM marches became violent; however, I believe much of this is due to the way they were treated, as well as other groups starting violence. No group is completely innocent - I know this. I do not ever think looting, arson and violence are the answer. Black Lives Matter is asking for what all people are entitled to - equality, fairness and to stop being killed by police. The group of insurgents at the Capitol was there to hang Mike Pence, "fight" to stop the "steal" - they were there to threaten our democracy and overturn our government. They did not care about what the majority of the country wanted.

What happened on January 6, 2021 can’t be compared to any of the marches that have taken place in the past 4 years. Why? Motivation. The motivation of the women’s march was valid, the motivation of Black Lives Matter marches are valid. The motivation for the attack on the Capitol on Wednesday was purely selfish and evil – and based on lies. People who are willing to murder their fellow Americans, police officers, politicians who were elected BY THE PEOPLE to serve-  purely for their misguided belief in a stolen election – these people are nothing more than immoral thugs.