The right’s new affinity for occupation tactics appears to have found an enabler in the police. Traditionally, cops have been quick to crack lefty heads if the cameras aren’t watching. But they seem reluctant to use that sort of force on the right. More than one pundit has asked how Jan. 6 might have evolved if Black Lives Matter protesters — instead of Trump supporters — had encircled the Capitol, smashed windows to gain entry, threatened to hang the vice president and dropped into the Senate chamber from the balcony. How restrained would the cops have been? How long would the president have dallied before calling in the National Guard?

The answers are so obvious that one blushes to ask. The police’s muted response at the U.S. Capitol, in Michigan and in Canada, so far, seems to have emboldened rightist protesters, almost rolling out a welcome mat for them to stage their protests elsewhere. Only 13 people had been arrested by 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 6 by the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. The justice system didn’t take greater action against the rioters and trespassers until after investigators had a chance to consult video evidence. Only then did they charge 700-plus suspects in court.

Some of the reluctance of police to forcefully confront right-wing protesters can be attributed to a shared bond between cops and the right. Unlike the left, right-wingers always present themselves as proponents of “law and order” and refrain from personifying the police as part of the evil establishment.