The videos and images this week of the events in Washington, D.C. almost seemed surreal when it happened – a riotous mob of aggrieved, pitiful individuals staging an insurrection on, of all buildings, the U.S. Capitol building.
Remember, it was an original target of the September 11th, 2001 attacks, but the attempt on the landmark that is home to both houses of Congress was proven unsuccessful while the looters and rioters that breached Capitol security and found their way inside the building were successful.
Sue Bird was a guest on “The Ladies’ Room” podcast and made note of an obvious observation – how the events of January 6, 2021 would have played out if it were a Black Lives Matter protest or, in general, if the crowd at our Nation’s Capital was not almost entirely white individuals.
Once I could really catch up and kind of consume it all, it was just, it was probably like 5 o’clock or so, maybe 6 p.m. last night and it was just disbelief. And it felt like, just a lot of emotion … sadness, anger, just not really understanding…
–Sue Bird, Seattle Storm (The Ladies Room podcast)
… And I feel like I can say this from a place of privilege sadly, but simultaneously … maybe this needed to happen. Maybe people who have been saying this didn’t exist, saying there isn’t racism in our country, maybe they needed to see this.
–Sue Bird, Seattle Storm (The Ladies Room podcast)
Bird also expressed optimism because of the incoming administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as well as an incoming Democratic Senate, one that was sealed with the victories in Georgia for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, a victory that because of who Warnock opposed in that election (Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler) meant a lot to WNBA players.
Since what happened in Washington took place, there has been a nationwide search for those that played any role in the attack on the Capitol. Among those now being investigated are police in Bird’s own city.
2 police officers in Seattle are under investigation for reportedly being in D.C. during the Capitol attack.
“If any SPD officers were directly involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, I will immediately terminate them,” the police chief says. pic.twitter.com/QxaT1UiImK
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) January 9, 2021
There’s only so much I know about politics. But it’s like, really? You weren’t prepared? Everybody knew there was going to be protests. There weren’t … more police. There wasn’t, from what I understand, there was the Capitol Police, where were the Metropolitan Police, where was the National Guard, like you weren’t ready for this? That part actually scares me the most because what does that mean? Like, who’s making these decisions and what does that mean?
–Sue Bird, Seattle Storm (The Ladies Room podcast)
But I actually posted something on my Instagram that I had seen where it had an image of what was, basically, set in place in terms of security for … (a) rumored Black Lives Matter protest and then what it looked like for this, what ended up being terrorism, but what was supposed to be a protest, and just the amount of cops, or lack, I should say, of cops that were there.
–Sue Bird, Seattle Storm (The Ladies Room podcast)
