claim: Black Lives Matter protesters outside the White House faced a more militarized response than rioters who assaulted the Capitol.
evidence: The escalating use of force against demonstrators comes amid a wider push to militarize the government’s response to domestic unrest, and particularly demonstrations perceived to be linked to left-wing groups like Antifa, which the administration views as a "terrorist" organization (New York Times, 31 May 2020). In the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s killing, President Trump posted a series of social media messages threatening to deploy the military and National Guard to disperse demonstrations, suggesting that authorities should use lethal force if demonstrators engage in looting (New York Magazine, 1 June 2020). The president called governors "weak" for allowing demonstrations in their states and instructed them to call in the National Guard to "dominate" and "cut through [protesters] like butter" (Vox, 2 June 2020). Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas, an advisor to the president, recommended that the administration "send in the troops" and give "no quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters" (New York Times, 3 June 2020, 23 June 2020).