Old video of senator-elect Raphael Warnock being arrested for praying in capitol exposes racism

The Trump-incited insurrection into Capitol Hill laid bare the institutional racism within the police force. An old video of Senator-Elect Raphael Warnock being arrested for merely kneeling down and praying in the Capitol rotunda has resurfaced, exposing the racism that runs through the institutions of the country. When MAGA rioters stormed Capitol Hill, the heart of American democracy, many cops stood and watched while some opened the barricades and ushered in the mob. MAGA rioters with symbols of Nazis, the confederate flag and QAnon t-shirts stormed the building with some even taking selfies with cops. This was all while lawmakers and the Vice President were inside the building. They all had to be rushed out to a secret location in the building to ensure their safety. The rioters brought two pipe bombs into the Capitol building and even erected a gallows outside Capitol Hill with many chanting," Hang Mike Pence."

There was no question as to why the police behaved differently on the day of the insurrection. Those charging into the Capitol building were white and that was the sole reason why they were not stopped and even allowed in the building. Nothing highlighted the point better than the video of Reverend Warnock being arrested on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda for kneeling down in prayer against Republican policies. It is not ok for a Black person to pray on Capitol Hill but it is ok for domestic terrorists to waltz through the rotunda with the intention of killing the vice president. 

The video from 2017 shows Capitol police arrest Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, who's a prominent spokesman for civil rights. In the video, Warnock, along with a few other religious leaders can be seen kneeling down to pray before being arrested. They were praying to show their opposition to a budget proposal that would disproportionately hurt Black communities. "As a pastor, I believe the national budget is not just a fiscal document but a moral document. It reflects what we believe and who we are, for one another," said Warnock at the time, reported Newsweek. "And if this mean spirited budget were an EKG, it would indicate that America has a heart condition. The government is taking student aid, job training, and medicine from those who need it most in order to give a tax cut to those who need it least. We came to Washington as voices of healing and justice."

"America is better than this. That's our message. And when I consider those who will suffer, my getting arrested is a small price to pay." In retrospect, the video is so much worse than it looked back then, especially when you consider MAGA rioters were escorted out of the school building like school children. As fate would have it, less than 3 years later, Warnock is a member of Congress and has full access to the very building he was arrested on. Raphael Warnock representing the Democratic party defeated Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler in the Senate race on January 5, 2020. Raphael Warnock becomes the state's first Black senator and the first Black Democratic senator from the South. "Tonight, we proved that with hope, hard work, and the people by our side, anything is possible," Warnock, 51, told supporters in a virtual speech.

The Black Lives Matter movement was derided for stating that there were two rules in America — one for White people and one for the rest. If the past hundred years weren't enough proof of systemic racism, maybe the last week will suffice for those who questioned it. If you still can't see racism at play, then you are being nothing but wilfully blind and there's no cure for that.