India Willoughby has sparked an outcry after expressing her belief that US police officers treated the Capitol building riots in the same way they have Black Lives Matter Protests as she reflected on yesterday's siege.
The divisive comments came during a discussion on This Morning about the shocking events in Washington that saw Donald Trump supporters storm the halls of Congress in attempt to block Joe Biden's presidential win.
Host Phillip Schofield called into question the actions of law enforcement officers as Capitol police were accused of being 'too slow' to respond and were seen taking selfies with the thugs on social media.
Many compared the scenes to the Black Lives Matter protesters demonstrating outside the White House in June who wre met with a huge police presence, over 5,000 national guard troops, helicopters and horses - with tear gas and rubber bullets also deployed.
Weighing in on the differences between yesterday's events and those last summer, India said: "I think it's basically the same. I don't see any difference in terms of how the police reacted."
Host Phillip and fellow guest Nicola Thorp hung their mouths open in disbelief.
"Are you kidding me!?" cried Nicola, "black people have been killed," she raged.
India's comments were picked up instantly on Twitter with many viewers venting their fury and some suggesting she be removed from future panel discussions.
"I’m literally in shock at India Willoughby not seeing any differences between the BLM protests, and the terrorists yesterday. Horrendous," cried one.
"That is the last time This morning should let India Willoughby on. What the actual f**k, fumed another.
Another called on ITV bosses to take action: "Can a producer on @thismorning stop India Willoughby coming on national TV and talking absolute rubbish that she has no idea about? Anyone who thinks the police reacted in the same way last night to BLM doesn’t deserve to have their opinions heard.... #MorningView #ThisMorning."
Following Wednesday's events, civil rights leaders have spoken out to slam Capitol police for what they described as a slow and 'unprepared' response to the rioters.
Derrick Johnson, president of the national NCAAP said: "When Black folks are protesting and progressives are protesting peacefully they were tear-gassed, they were arrested, they were shot with rubber bullets. They were shot with real bullets."
Marcia Fudge, a Democrat from Ohio, also called into question the security efforts on Wednesday.
"The Capitol police were unprepared, ineffective and some were complicit. All of them should be held to account," she said.
Following the debate her comments on This Morning caused, India has taken to social media to respond to what she caused an 'over-reaction.'
She tweeted: "Predictable Twitter over-reaction. The root of what we saw last night in Washington is a direct result of the MEDIA taking sides. News shouldn’t be choosing a team. It’s supposed to be independent - and we have lost that this year. Fact. Police react to the situation.
"Whether you like him or not (always said I disagree with most of what Trump stands for) 70 million Americans voted for Donald. Is that 70 million bad people? No. They feel media coverage has been biased - ‘robbing’ Trump. News contributed to last night big time," she said.
Mirror Online has contacted This Morning for comment
