The son of Martin Luther King has this morning described the storming of Capitol Hill by pro-Trump protestors as “white privilege on steroids”.
Appearing on Australian television, Martin Luther King III (pictured) likened the protest display to “domestic terrorism”.
“This is perplexing and it’s all because the President called for it,” he said on Today.
“This is a potential coup on the United States government.
“It’s white privilege on steroids and it’s beyond dangerous.”
The United States Senate and House of Representatives were evacuated after furious supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol Building to halt the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“Under a different set of circumstances, [Trump] would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Luther King III.
“This President has always been exclusively for himself, and the tragedy is that a President represents all the people whether you win or whether you lose, and when you lose you should lose with honour and not pout like a little child.”
The protests were sparked by news that Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff had won his Senate run-off election. The 33-year-old Ossoff defeated 71-year-old Republican David Perdue, who has held the seat for the past six years.
His victory gives Democrats control of the Senate for the opening of Joe Biden’s presidency. Democrats needed to win both of Georgia’s Senate run-off elections on Tuesday to claim the Senate majority.
The Senate and House of Representatives were meeting to certify Biden’s election win in the November 3 presidential election when the protesters stormed the building.
US President Donald Trump has issued a video on Twitter telling protesters to go home in peace and repeating claims that he won the election.
US President-elect Joe Biden has this morning called the storming of the Capitol “a siege” and demanded President Donald Trump go on national television to call for an end to the “insurrection”.
“At this hour our democracy is under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times,” Biden said in a televised address.
“An assault on the citadel of liberty – the Capitol itself. An assault on the people’s representatives and the Capitol Hill Police who protect them.”
Meanwhile Luther King III said his father would be saddened by the events of today.
“It’s clear that we are a divided nation but no matter how divided we are, we’ve been able to operate in a civil manner. This is uncivil, it’s unacceptable, it’s unnecessary.”
“They have the right to protest but what they do not have the right to do is come and violently overtake the government and push for their objective when an election took place and someone was elected to lead our nation.
“If you don’t want to abide by democracy, maybe you should go somewhere else.”
