Editor's note: Maitreya Bhakal is an Indian commentator who writes about China, India, U.S. and global issues. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Few things are more American than police violence. Maybe the only thing more American is its system of legal apartheid: the law in America varies widely by race, ethnicity, and income. The lighter the skin color of the accused, the lighter the law applied and the lighter the sentence.

Thus, white-skinned, white-collar criminals (e.g. CEOs and hedge fund managers) get away with stealing millions, while people of color are sentenced to brutal punishment and slave labor for committing petty, non-violent crimes. Similarly, convictions of white police officers for killing unarmed non-white civilians are rare – even when the crime is caught on camera.

The reverse is far more frequent. The country doesn't mind convicting non-white cops for killing white people. In 2018, Mohammad Noor, a Somali American Muslim police officer, was swiftly convicted of third-degree murder and sent to jail for 12 and a half years – for killing a white woman. Even many white Americans – hardly fans of Muslims themselves – were shocked by the speed of the trial and the sentencing.

No Capitol punishment

A report found that during the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6 this year, officers were instructed by their leaders to avoid using their most aggressive tactics. This was despite the mob laying siege to the heart of America's government – where people's "elected" representatives were certifying the results of the presidential election. Unsurprisingly, most of those rioters were white. This made the administration treat them as human.

With colored protesters though, the regime takes a different approach, often instantly deploying the brutal National Guard at the smallest whiff of peaceful protest.

According to the New York Times, most policemen in America are white. Like many of their white civilian counterparts, they consider people of color to be dirty, backwards, and criminal. Earlier this month, a white police officer in Minnesota, a racist and crime-infested state in America's north, shot and killed an unarmed Black man. This was by itself not surprising – police in America frequently murder Black civilians. What was surprising was that the police officer (a veteran of 26 years) ostensibly intended to use a Taser but fired her gun by mistake. Even more shockingly, she was training her junior fellow officers at the time.

It's difficult to decide what is more representative of U.S. policing: the casual killings of unarmed Black men en masse – or the fact that police trainers who are veterans of 26 years don't know their Taser from their gun.

A home invasion

The state erupted in protests. The administration responded as it often does to peaceful dissent – with a brutal crackdown led by paramilitary forces. Many counties in the region were put under military occupation. Humvees that once rolled in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan flooded the streets of Minneapolis. The Twin Cities area was transformed into a Hollywood movie set, except that this one was prepared to kill by bullets instead of boredom. 

The state was already cautious because of the then ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin, another Minneapolis police officer who had killed George Floyd, another unarmed Black man, in May 2020 by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, while passersby watched and took videos.

The incident shocked the nation, even one so used to police killings. The government became so insecure, that this murder trial was the first one in the state that it allowed to be broadcast live. On April 20, in a rare victory for justice in America, Chauvin was convicted of murder.

As Chauvin's trial was playing out in the courthouse, his fellow cops – no doubt future Chauvins - were busy beating people a few streets away. State forces used tear gas and flash-bang grenades on peaceful protesters. Curfew was imposed in multiple counties. U.S. cities that had been reluctant to impose curfews due to the pandemic were quick to order them to suppress peaceful protests.

The U.S. "independent" media constantly broadcast propaganda and portrayed the rioters as thugs and criminals. The military occupation received only minimal coverage. Regime Spokespersons kept braying - with no sense of irony - that there was "no excuse for violence". Yet, the rare violence a few protesters displayed was largely in self-defense against police brutality. 

The trial of the nation

America's repressive administration would hope that the guilty verdict would placate tempers and halt future protests, at least temporarily. When news of the verdict broke out, state media repeatedly showed people celebrating and dancing on the streets. By giving itself some breathing space with the guilty verdict, it seems the state now feels secure enough to loosen its leash for a while.

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