Erroll Southers, director of homegrown violent extremism studies at USC, joins Shep Smith to discuss how yesterday's rioters were treated with kid gloves, particularly when compared to Black Lives Matter protesters over the summer. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, reacting to the violence on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, drew a stark contrast between how government and police respond to demonstrations held by Black protesters and White protesters.

Kenney, appearing Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” said the months of protests last year that sprang from the police killings of unarmed Black people did not receive the same “tenor or flavor” of response as the mostly white pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday as lawmakers worked to confirm the Electoral College results of the 2020 presidential election.

“Could you imagine thousands of Black people, people of color, invading the Capitol — what would have happened to them yesterday?” the Democrat, who is White, asked.

The death of George Floyd, a Black father who was killed last spring as a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck while making an arrest, sparked mostly peaceful protests in cities across the country, including Philadelphia and Washington, through 2020. Those demonstrations against police brutality often included standoffs with riot police, the presence of U.S. National Guard members and counter-protesters. Some did result in violence and looting.

In one incident in June, armed members of the D.C. National Guard wearing camouflage were staged at the Lincoln Memorial during a peaceful protest against police brutality.

That same day, police and National Guard troops forcefully dispersed peaceful protesters at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House to make way for Trump to hold a Bible for a photo op at St. John’s Church.

Many politicians and media personalities are speaking out on the divergent use of law enforcement in the Capitol protest and the Black Lives Matter rallies that took place last year. MSNBC’s Joy Reid also compared it to rallies against police brutality held in the last decade in cities including Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore.

“White Americans are never afraid of the cops, even when they are committing insurrection, even when they are engaged in attempting to occupy our Capitol to steal the votes of people who look like me, because in their mind, they own this Capitol; they own the cops,” said Reid, who is Black. She hosts the weekday show “The ReidOut.”

“I guarantee if that was a Black Lives Matter protest, there would be people shackled, arrested or dead,” she added.

Four people lost their lives during the incident in Washington, including a woman fatally shot by Capitol police. Almost 68 people connected to the chaos were arrested, according to D.C. police. Capitol police say 14 people were arrested, primarily for unlawful entry. Buildings were placed on lockdown and lawmakers evacuated as participants clashed with police, roamed the federal campus, destroyed property and occupied congressional chambers and offices.

Some wielded Confederate flags.

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