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Black Lives Matter, Capitol Hill protests identical, says Michael McCormack

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McCormack doubles down on claim over US protestsWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementActing Prime Minister Michael McCormack has labelled the Black Lives Matter movement a “protest over racial riots” in a new statement claiming a parallel with the storming of the United States Congress last week.One day after Amnesty International criticised him for the “deeply offensive” comparison, Mr McCormack argued that both protests should be condemned for their violence.“Any form of violence, any form of protest that ends in death and destruction, is abhorred,” Mr McCormack told ABC TV on Tuesday morning. “Any form of protest, whether it’s a protest over racial riots or indeed what we’ve seen on Capitol Hill in recent days, is condemned and is abhorred.”Asked was different because it sought to impede a democratic institution, Mr McCormack did not concede any difference between the riots and the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality and racially motivated violence.“It involves violence. It involves the destruction of property. It involves deaths of people, and any violence of that form is condemned,” he said.Labor treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers accused the acting Prime Minister of a “failure of leadership” in claiming the equivalence.The US Crisis Monitor, a joint project between the Armed Conflict Location &amp; Event Data Project (ACLED) and the Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) at Princeton University, warned of a “heightened risk of political violence and instability” last year. 7750 protests from May 26 to August 22 linked to the Black Lives Matter movement and concluded more than 93 per cent were peaceful.AdvertisementThe that damage claims related to the Black Lives Matter protests could reach more than $1 billion, but said this was subject to further evaluation.The that more than 20 police officers were dead as a result of the Black Lives Matter protests. It concluded the death of one officer, David Dorn, was “conclusively connected” to violence at the protests.During last week's Capitol riots, the mob smashed windows and broke doors, sending lawmakers into hiding as they began Electoral College votes affirming Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Five people died, including , and more than 50 Capitol and DC police were injured.Mr Chalmers said Mr McCormack was making a false comparison.“It beggars belief that the acting Prime Minister is drawing his equivalence,” he said.“This is a stupendous and outrageous failure of leadership. When leaders all around the world are rightly condemning the violence in Washington, DC, we have members of the Australian government trying to legitimise it or draw false comparisons.”Acting Greens Leader Nick McKim said Mr McCormack was engaging in "post-truth politics" with his false equivalence.“The Black Lives Matter movement is a push-back against racist policing and politics. In contrast, the Capitol riots were because the far right didn't want to accept the results of a fair and democratic election," Senator McKim said.“Our warning to the Liberals is simple. Taking up Trump-style politics is poison to democracy. If this is the direction the Liberal Party is heading, it bodes terribly for the future of Australian politics.”Health Minister Greg Hunt also refused to criticise Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who has been posting on Facebook questioning coronavirus vaccines."We follow the advice of the medical advisers, and many people, as I just said, will put out differing views," he told reporters.The political dispute over the US protests comes as Mr McCormack and other Morrison government ministers on the grounds he incited the violent attack on the Congress last Thursday.While , the government has not said whether it wanted to regulate the way private companies decided who could use their services.Speaking in Townsville later on Tuesday, Mr McCormack dismissed Amnesty International's criticism of his remarks and said others were "confecting outrage" over his comparison with the Black Lives Matter protests."The fact is there was violence, there was destruction, there was uninsured property that business owners then had to dig deep into their own pockets to rebuild," he said."And then, of course, there are lives lost. I appreciate there are a lot of people out there who are being a bit bleeding-heart about this and who are confecting outrage, but they should know that those lives matter, too."All lives matter."The Australia Director of Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson, said Mr McCormack was being “deliberately provocative” by using the “all lives matter” – a slogan used by opponents of the Black Lives Matter movement.“What a cheap, divisive and dangerous political stunt,” Ms Pearson said.Our Morning Edition newsletter is a curated guide to the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald’s newsletter , The Age’s , Brisbane Times’ , and WAtoday’s .Log in, or to save articles for later. is chief political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Advertisement

McCormack doubles down on claim over US protestsWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementActing Prime Minister Michael McCormack has labelled the Black Lives Matter movement a “protest over racial riots” in a new statement claiming a parallel with the storming of the United States Congress last week.One day after Amnesty International criticised him for the “deeply offensive” comparison, Mr McCormack...

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Black Lives Matter, Capitol Hill protests identical, says Michael McCormack

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