A fiery debate unfolded during a CNN segment when Republican strategist Scott Jennings and attorneys Arthur Aidala and Michael Van Der Meer challenged the left’s rosy narrative surrounding the Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots.
As reported by The Daily Caller, the discussion centered on President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon over 1,500 individuals connected to the Capitol protest on Jan. 6, 2021, sparking backlash from liberal panelists.

Attorney Arthur Aidala pointed out the harsh treatment of Jan. 6 defendants, stating, “Those people who were incarcerated, they faced some horrible humanitarian conditions during their period of incarceration.”
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CNN host Abby Phillip brushed off the comment with, “Jail is not nice… for anybody else who’s there,” sidestepping Aidala’s concerns about alleged mistreatment.
The conversation took a sharper turn when liberal pundits, including Ana Navarro, mocked Trump supporters, claiming they “screwed around” and were “finding out.” Phillip redirected the debate to the summer 2020 riots that followed George Floyd’s death, which left at least 24 people dead and caused nearly $1 billion in property damage.

When Phillip pressed Jennings about prosecutions during the BLM riots, he fired back, “How many were prosecuted ultimately?”
Defense attorney Michael Van Der Meer interjected, highlighting the disparities in legal consequences. “They went into all kinds of diversionary programs,” he said. “The way that prosecution was handled between those two groups is starkly different.”
Jennings also noted the selective outrage. “Our culture decided that one group of people, social justice, is good, and these people [Jan. 6 participants] were bad,” he explained. “But the reality is they had the same motivation.”
Phillip attempted to argue that the Jan. 6 event was uniquely egregious, claiming it sought to overturn an election. Jennings countered, emphasizing that motivations for both events stemmed from anger and dissatisfaction, yet the media and public discourse framed them through entirely different lenses.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s support for a bail fund that freed violent offenders from the BLM riots, including sex offenders and domestic abusers, added fuel to the debate. Meanwhile, BLM’s financial scandals, including co-founder Patrisse Cullors’ misuse of donor funds to purchase a $6 million mansion, further highlighted the group’s hypocrisy.
Attorney Aidala encapsulated conservative frustrations with the left’s selective morality. “That doesn’t give you the right to break into the Nike store! That doesn’t give you the right to break into Tiffany’s!” he said, addressing the looting during the 2020 riots.
As liberal panelists like Ashley Allison tried to excuse the riots as justified protests, conservatives pushed back, exposing the glaring double standards in prosecution, media coverage, and public outrage.
While the left continues to paint Jan. 6 participants as villains, they conveniently downplay the devastation caused during the BLM riots—reminding viewers that justice, it seems, is only served when politically convenient.
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The one person that I would like to see prosecuted is the Capital police Lt. Michael Byrd shot and killed Ashli Babbitt In the US capital building. As a cop on the street that shooting would have been at the least a Homicide but it should have been 2nd degree murder IMO
I believe that the people that were violent on Jan 6 should face prosecution. Not the stuff that happened. That was political persecution. They did such a hatchet job on people just because they were in Washington on that day. Many didn’t have the money for any kind of a trial so they plead guilty, just for the prosecutors to get a win for the “insurrection” which very few if any were charged with. Many were left to rot in jail and not be able to see a lawyer for weeks or months. It was the greatest miscarriage of justice in America ever.