Conservatives are denouncing the rioters without claiming them as their own though. They’re trying to say it’s BLM and ANTIFA. So there’s that.
Doxxing for law enforcement did and has been occurring for the summer’s riots. There’s a lot more footage to go through and most of them were wearing masks, making identification harder. It was more widespread and there are jurisdictional issues. Plus, you have to separate protests from riots.
There’s also the matter of police assaults on protestors acting to push protests into riots and ALL the footage of more police brutality. Politically, if you arrest BLM rioters after that, what do you think will happen? Likely, ALL the protests will explode. Conservatives can’t seem to distinguish between protestors and rioters in regards to the summer’s protests and the president is a racist. Can’t take his word, with or without his upside down bible.
It should also be noted that no BLM protestor ever stormed into a capitol building with the express intent to halt a democratic process and overturn an election. There were no bombs. Nobody was chanting to hang the VP, nobody stormed around looking for specific targets to take hostage or execute.
Conservatives need to do a lot better than performative condemnation, continuing the Big Lie with more lies and blame shifting, and equivocating.
The fact that these thugs are losing their jobs says one thing above all else. Nobody trusts the government to deal with this. Not when the GOP is pandering to a radical base for political safety, YET AGAIN. Not when Trump and the Trump administration (unproven) were involved. Not when Pence and McConnell refuse to invoke the 25th or aid impeachment. Not when the Biden administration is STILL talking about reconciliation and healing.
You cannot reconcile or forgive an attempted coup. You cannot reach across the aisle in friendship to those who support one and become apologists for an autocrat, a despot, or a dictator.
These factors have pushed response to the street level. Is it vindictiveness when it’s the only viable and meaningful option left to say NO to tyranny of the minority? NO to theocracy? NO to white supremacy? NO to fascism? And NO to Trump?
There aren’t many options left.
