US Republican Senator Ron Johnson has landed in hot water following remarks he made about the storming of the US Capitol in January.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Johnson said those who marched to the Capitol “love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law,” and therefore he “wasn't concerned."
"Now, had the tables been turned, and Joe – this is going to get me in trouble – had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election and tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa, I might have been a little concerned," he said during an interview with talk show host Joseph Pagliarulo.
Johnson’s remarks have already elicited criticism from Democratic Senator LaTonya Johnson (no relation) from Wisconsin, who argued: "For him to say something as racist as that – it’s ridiculous."
"It’s a totally racist comment and the insult to injury is he didn’t mind saying it in the position that he holds because for some reason that’s just deemed as acceptable behavior for people who live in and are elected officials in this state," she said.
As Ron Johnson himself explained, he made the comments due to last year’s protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, that turned violent.
"That’s why I would have been more concerned," he said.
During a 6 January rally in Washington DC, ex-President Donald Trump’s supporters headed to the Capitol, with a large group storming the building. Five protesters and one police officer were killed as a result.
Massive Black Lives Matter protests broke out across the United States in May 2020, triggered by the death of George Floyd while in police custody. While the protests were mostly peaceful, a number of them turned violent, with some US states even deploying the National Guard to quell the unrest.
