Former First Lady Michelle Obama responded to Wednesday’s riots on Capitol Hill in a dazzling statement a day later, saying her “heart had fallen harder and faster than I remember.”

She began by saying that she had woken up excited by the news of Reverend Raphael Warnock’s projected victory in his second round of elections in Georgia.

“I was encouraged by the idea that the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church – Dr. King’s home parish and a spiritual and organizational center during the civil rights movement – would represent his state in the Senate of United States, ”Obama mentioned.

“Within hours, however, my heart fell harder and faster than I remember. Like all of you, I saw a gang – organized, violent and mad for losing an election – besiege the Capitol. from the United States, ”she added. “They put up gallows. They proudly waved the treacherous Confederation flag in the hallways. They desecrated the center of the US government.”

“Once the authorities finally took control of the situation, these rioters and gang members were led out of the building not handcuffed, but free to continue with their lives,” Obama said. “This day has been the fulfillment of the wishes of an infantile and unpatriotic president who cannot deal with the truth of his own failures. And the wreck rests at the feet of a party and media apparatus which happily has it. encouraged, knowing full well the possibility of consequences like these. “

Obama then noted how the rioters were treated differently from protesters reacting to the death of George Floyd last summer.

“There is one question I cannot avoid: what if these rioters looked like the people who go to Ebenezer Baptist Church every Sunday? What would have been different? I think we know all the answer, “she said. “This summer’s Black Lives Matter protests were an extremely peaceful movement – the biggest protests in our country, bringing together people of all races and classes and encouraging millions to re-examine their own assumptions and behaviors. “

“And yet, city after city, day after day, we have seen peaceful protesters colliding with brute force. We have seen cracked skulls and mass arrests, law enforcement agencies spraying pepper in a peaceful protest for a presidential photoshoot, “she added, referring to the unrest in Lafayette Park over the summer.

“And for those calling on other unpatriotic people to just kneel down in silent protest, for those wondering why we need to be reminded that Black Lives Matter made it clear yesterday that some Americans are, in fact, allowed to disparage the flag and symbols of our nation, ”added Obama. “They just have to look the right way. What do all these people have to say now?”

“Seeing the gap between responses to yesterday’s riot and peaceful protests this summer and the broader race for racial justice is so painful. It hurts,” she said. “And I can’t think of moving on or turning the page until we take into account the reality of what we saw yesterday. Real progress will only be possible when we recognize that this disconnection exists and that we will take action to fix it. And that also means coming to face the reality that millions of people voted for a man so obviously willing to burn our democracy for his own ego. “

Obama also called on social media companies to permanently ban Trump from platforms and put in place policies “to prevent their technology from being used by the country’s leaders to fuel the insurgency.”

At the end of her statement, the former first lady returned to the results of the two second senatorial elections in Georgia, which are expected to give Democrats control of both organs of Congress.

“Fortunately, even in the dark there are glimmers of hope,” she said. “This is something I imagine Reverend Warnock has preached before – and I am always encouraged beyond the idea that he is heading to Washington. I am glad that his fellow Georgian, Jon Ossoff, the or too, and that together, they will help give control of Congress to the one party that has shown it can put our democracy above its own short-term political fortunes. I pray that every American, especially those who disagree with them, give our new Congress, President-elect Biden, and Vice-President-elect Harris the chance to guide us in a better direction. “