To say that people breaking laws are not being arrested and tried is an insult to the law enforcement officers who have arrested many, the prosecutors who have made the tough choices to use their resources efficiently and bring the cases they can and the judges and juries that sit and listen to the evidence and hand our justice. They just haven't had an event that was as large and potentially impactful as the January 8 uprising.
Some 1,000 people were arrested in Portland, OR at 100-events last year. The vast majority of these arrests were for disturbing the peace, and similar crimes. The D.A. determined that walking down the street and making noise was a nuisance that is probably protected by the First Amendment. The cases concluded for Jan 8 rioters almost all have a majority of these types of charges, and many more serious ones also, dropped. The difference between the Jan 6 protesters and others is the anti-BLM, anti-Antifa cottage industry in right wing media does not have a left-wing counterpart complaining about all the charges being dropped for Jan. 6 crimes.
