College President Calls Capitol Riot In ‘Stark Contrast’ With ‘Peaceful’ George Floyd ‘Activism’

Albion, MI – The president of a private college in Michigan said the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol was a “clear display of white supremacy” and were in “stark contrast” to anti-police riots after the death of George Floyd which he described as “peaceful activism in communities around the country.”

Mathew Johnson, the president of Albion College, sent his email to everyone on campus on Jan. 7.

Albion College is a private university with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. Tuition is a total of $50,000 a year for the fall and spring terms.

Johnson didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. The email was obtained by The Police Tribune.

Johnson’s email read: “Yesterday’s actions were an attack on the very fabric of our democracy and unfortunately were not a one-off. Rather, they were the logical culmination of a prolonged campaign to undermine our democracy and a clear display of white supremacy.”

Johnson continued: “Yesterday’s actions also stand in stark contrast to a summer of peaceful activism in communities around the country demanding accountability and change in policing systems that lead to police killings of Black people. While we stand to condemn the actions yesterday, we simultaneously condemn the very disparate actions taken against unarmed peaceful Black and Brown protestors.”

The New York Post reported that the rioting started by the death of George Floyd across the country cost insurance companies as much as $2 billion.

The New York Post reported that looting, arson and vandalism occurred in more than 20 states from May 26 to June 8, citing the Insurance Information Institute as the source.

On May 30 in the wake of the George Floyd protests, rioters surrounded the Grand Rapids Police Department in Michigan and broke windows and set fires to Dumpsters and police cars and looted stores, according to MLive. The rioters caused an estimated $2.1 million in damage while breaking hundreds of windows of businesses and looting some stores, MLive reported.

There were 22 people charged with rioting in Grand Rapids, which is about 100 miles northwest of Albion.

The continued riots in Portland, Oregon that were spurred by anti-police protests cost $300,000 in damage to public buildings and $4.8 million in property damage to businesses, according to The Oregonian.