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salem
This is exposed for many in a video about the police in Salem, Oregon.
In a clip shared online, an officer told a group of armed White men to "hide" to avoid arrest.
In the above video, an officer and armed White nationalist militia members had a conversation.
The conversation was broken up by a militia member stating what the police are telling them.
"They just don't want to see us on the streets. Because if they let us be out here, then people will say 'WE can be out here'."
"So if we could just like, make ourselves not obvious, they said if we could do that, that would be great."
The conversation between the officer and the militia members continued, with the officer using very interesting word choices about the warning.
He said:
"My commander wanted me to come talk to you guys and request you guys discreetly remain inside the buildings, or in your vehicles, somewhere where it's not a violation."
"So we don't look like we're playing favorites."
The implication is that they want the armed men to hide so they don't have to be arrested, as they are planning to do to the protesters.
The militia group in the video were identified by many online as members of the Proud Boys, a highly controversial White nationalist and White supremacist extremist group.
If these really are Proud Boy members as people claim, this looks even worse for the Salem Police.
The police chief of Salem addressed concerns about the police treating people differently.
While not addressing the video directly, Chief Jerry Moore said:
"The message we have received is a concern that we are treating people differently. For that, I tell you, I am sorry."
"Sorry that there is even a thought that this department would treat some different than others."
For many, this video was unsurprising.
Chief Moore said the officer in the video was not properly briefed on the enforcement of curfew, but he was now. Going forward, all officers will be educated before deployment.
As the protests go on, questions about the use of police force will continue to come up, especially if they are applied unequally.