Baltimore Protests and Riots

[Elaro]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/state-of-e ... -1.3051048

Protesters hurled bricks, looted businesses and set fires in Baltimore on Monday in violence that injured at least seven police officers following the funeral of a 25-year-old black man who died after he was injured in police custody.

The riots broke out just a few blocks from the funeral of Freddie Gray and then spread through parts of Baltimore in the most violent U.S. demonstrations since looting in Ferguson, Mo., last year.

"I'm a lifelong resident of Baltimore," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a Tuesday evening news conference. "Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs, who in a very senseless way are trying to tear down what so many have fought for."

Rawlings-Blake said she was in touch with the governor and has asked for the National Guard. She said "every resource possible" will be deployed to gain control of the situation.

Starting tomorrow, there will be a citywide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., she said, lasting one week and to be extended as needed.

USA-POLICE/BALTIMORE
Rioters in Baltimore damaged vehicles, ransacked stores and set fires after violent clashes between young demonstrators and police erupted following the funeral of Freddie Gray, who died from a spinal injury sustained in police custody. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

The news conference came not long after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency, activated the state's National Guard and sent additional state troopers to Baltimore.

An Orioles baseball game was cancelled and schools, businesses and train stations shut down in the city of 662,000 people 64 kilometres from the nation's capital.


"I strongly condemn the actions of the offenders who are engaged in direct attacks against innocent civilians, businesses and law enforcement officers," Hogan tweeted shortly after 6 p.m. ET.

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President Barack Obama was briefed on the violence in Baltimore by newly sworn-in U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and spoke with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

The White House said the Department of Justice was ready to provide any assistance.

Rioters sack businesses, burn vehicles

The riots broke out around 4:30 p.m. following the funeral for Gray, who died on April 19 from a spinal injury after being arrested and transported in police van a week before.

By 6:30 p.m. ET, a CVS pharmacy that had been looted was on fire as police moved into an area where rioters sacked businesses and destroyed vehicles.

baltimore-riot-freddie-gray
Police were initially restrained, but as the riots escalated, they brought out pepper spray and tear gas and moved to arrest those who they said were attacking officers 'without provocation.' (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Police spokesman Eric Kowalczyk said earlier the riot began when a large group of people spread out over "a pretty significant area." Youths began pelting a city bus and police vehicles with stones outside the Mondawmin Mall in northwest Baltimore, just a few blocks from the site of the Gray funeral.

Some demonstrators carried signs reading "Justice 4 Freddie Gray," but many said the riots had little to do with Gray or what his family wanted.

Baltimore-police-riot-freddie gray
Smoke billows from a CVS Pharmacy in Baltimore where looting had occurred earlier Monday afternoon. (Juliet Linderman/Associated Press)

"It is disappointing just a few hours after putting Gray to rest," said Reverend Jamal Bryant, who spoke at the funeral. "This is not what the family asked for today of all days. This was a day of sacred closure."

J.M. Giordano, photo editor for Baltimore's City Paper who was beaten by police during a Freddie Gray protest over the weekend and was out documenting Monday's events, agreed.

"The friends and family of Freddie Gray, they didn't want this kind of protest," he told CBC's Diana Swain.

Baltimore-police-riot
Young men carry away looted items from a CVS Pharmacy, one of several Baltimore businesses ransacked and looted Monday. (Patrick Semansky/Associated Press)

"This is really a neighbourhood, I think, lashing out. A lot of people in these neighbourhoods are fed up with lack of police investigation, police getting off the hook for things."

Police, who initially showed restraint, later moved in to arrest those who "without provocation attacked our police officers."


"You're going to see tear gas, you're going to see pepper balls," Kowalczyk said at a press conference earlier in the afternoon. "We're going to use appropriate methods to ensure that we're able to preserve the safety of that community."

Kowalczyk said seven officers had been injured in the clashes.

Baltimore-riot-police-freddie-gray
Vehicles, including at least one police van, were damaged and set on fire during the riot. (Patrick Semansky/Associated Press)

On its official Twitter feed, the Baltimore Police Department gave regular updates of the movements of the protesters, who, they said, were damaging vehicles and property, setting cars on fire and in one instance had cut one of the firehoses being used to put out a fire.

"The group is aggressive and violent," one tweet said.

Kowalczyk described the instigators of the violence as "lawless individuals with no regard for the safety of the people that live in the community."

Riots follow days of protests

Baltimore-riots-poilice
Many of the protesters seemed to be young teenagers. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Gray's death has led to days of protests in the latest outcry over U.S. law enforcement's treatment of minorities.

Gray's family, pastors and city officials had pleaded for peaceful demonstrations after some arrests and injuries at protests over the weekend.

Speaker after speaker before the crowd packing the 2,500-seat New Shiloh Baptist Church said the world was watching to see if justice would be done for Gray.

[Patroklos]

Cutting fire hoses now it seems. Classy.

[Flagg]

All the money for repairs should come out of the BPD Pension Fund.

[Titan Uranus]

All the money for repairs should come out of the BPD Pension Fund.

Look, I hate coppers as much as the next man, but why on earth would you do that? I'll admit that I have not read a whole lot about this situation, but I don't see why this petty vandalism is their fault.

[Haminal10]

This is a really shitty way for your home city to make the evening news.

Been watching the news since I got home from work and hoping that the shithead rioters stay away from my house. Fingers crossed.

[Patroklos]

All the money for repairs should come out of the BPD Pension Fund.

Look, I hate coppers as much as the next man, but why on earth would you do that? I'll admit that I have not read a whole lot about this situation, but I don't see why this petty vandalism is their fault.

So you don't hate them at all like the vast majority of people?

[Simon_Jester]

The individual Baltimore policemen responsible for the death of Mr. Gray have touched off all this.

It doesn't seem like the department as a whole is responsible for cultivating unprofessional abusive bozo-cops in this case, but I could be wrong about that, or I could be right.

[Titan Uranus]

All the money for repairs should come out of the BPD Pension Fund.

Look, I hate coppers as much as the next man, but why on earth would you do that? I'll admit that I have not read a whole lot about this situation, but I don't see why this petty vandalism is their fault.

So you don't hate them at all like the vast majority of people?

It is an expression, the question is more likely to get an honest answer and make the man think if some sort of camaraderie is established.

But if you must know, I do not hate coppers, I simply do not trust them as a general group. Some of them are decent folk, especially the younger ones, but they have too few checks on their power and tend to become corrupted over time.

[cosmicalstorm]

I prefer mildly corrupt police over 100 % corrupt local gangs. The people who complain about police violence today will be disappointed when they meet the new boss in town in the future.

[Simon_Jester]

This definitely is an issue when local citizenry 'rally' against the police in favor of homegrown gangs.

Nothing makes your neighborhood go to hell faster than deliberate policies of tolerating the local thieves and murderers.

Conversely, it is vitally important for police to be scrupulously honest, precisely so that this doesn't end up happening.

[mr friendly guy]

The riots broke out around 4:30 p.m. following the funeral for Gray, who died on April 19 from a spinal injury after being arrested and transported in police van a week before.

How the hell did they cause a spinal injury in the arrest?

[CaptHawkeye]

Only white people are allowed to revolt in this country it seems.

Can't take my guns away oh no. I need my M4 for home defense just trust me. Tired of being suppressed by years of institutional racism well too bad that sucks. Don't make me live in fear for a week with your violence! I don't care that minorities live every day of their entire lives in fear of racist police, or becoming gang fodder after being trapped in the ghettos. But that Obama man i'm just saying we may have to do something if he dares to make me sign a form indicating I have no history of crime or mental illness before I purchase my Barrett.

[Vendetta]

The riots broke out around 4:30 p.m. following the funeral for Gray, who died on April 19 from a spinal injury after being arrested and transported in police van a week before.

How the hell did they cause a spinal injury in the arrest?

From a Guardian article:

Police chiefs admitted officers failed to provide Gray with medical attention despite his requests and failed to seatbelt him in the van. Past prisoners in Baltimore have described “rough rides” in which police vehicles are seemingly deliberately driven erratically to injure passengers.

Seems like he was injured during the arrest* anyway (in the video of him being put in the van one of his legs is limp), not given appropriate medical attention, and not properly secured in the van, and there is a history of the Baltimore PD driving prisoners around in a way intended to cause harm (though no evidence so far that this happened in this case).


* apparently for eyeballing a police officer and then running away, cause if he's running away he must be guilty of something right?

[Grumman]

* apparently for eyeballing a police officer and then running away, cause if he's running away he must be guilty of something right?

But he was guilty of something. Carrying a concealed switchblade carries a three year sentence in Maryland.

[CaptHawkeye]

* apparently for eyeballing a police officer and then running away, cause if he's running away he must be guilty of something right?

But he was guilty of something. Carrying a concealed switchblade carries a three year sentence in Maryland.

Yeah that's a crime, but owning a home arsenal isn't.

[Ralin]

Only white people are allowed to revolt in this country it seems.

Can't take my guns away oh no. I need my M4 for home defense just trust me. Tired of being suppressed by years of institutional racism well too bad that sucks. Don't make me live in fear for a week with your violence! I don't care that minorities live every day of their entire lives in fear of racist police, or becoming gang fodder after being trapped in the ghettos. But that Obama man i'm just saying we may have to do something if he dares to make me sign a form indicating I have no history of crime or mental illness before I purchase my Barrett.

Uh, excuse me, the article said nothing about the protesters using guns. Which makes it completely different from constitutionally protected 2nd Amendment solutions

[The Romulan Republic]

Only white people are allowed to revolt in this country it seems.

Can't take my guns away oh no. I need my M4 for home defense just trust me. Tired of being suppressed by years of institutional racism well too bad that sucks. Don't make me live in fear for a week with your violence! I don't care that minorities live every day of their entire lives in fear of racist police, or becoming gang fodder after being trapped in the ghettos. But that Obama man i'm just saying we may have to do something if he dares to make me sign a form indicating I have no history of crime or mental illness before I purchase my Barrett.

Uh, excuse me, the article said nothing about the protesters using guns. Which makes it completely different from constitutionally protected 2nd Amendment solutions

Are you actually saying that these "protestors" (I prefer to call them rioters because calling them protestors legitimizes their actions) are less entitled to do what they're doing because they're not using guns? That violence becomes more legitimate if you escalate to the point of using firearms? Has the gun cult really gotten that bad in American politics (rhetorical question- of course it has)?

Let's be consistent. Using violence, particularly violence against innocent people (because rioters are not known for picking their targets with great care to avoid collateral damage) is not an acceptable way to resolve political grievances. It doesn't matter, or at least it shouldn't matter, weather the people doing it are white or weather they're using guns.

This is supposed to be a democracy where people are accountable to the law. Maybe that doesn't always work perfectly, but we are hardly at the point where battles in the streets are justified as a way to fix things. Of course, a lot of the rioters probably don't give a damn about reform- I expect a lot of them are just angry people who want to hurt someone.

[Broomstick]

Protesters tend to confront a specific topic or group. So... they'll speak out against a corrupt political system, or march in protest of an unpopular law, or yell insults at the police. They might even throw rocks and worse at the police.

Rioters, on the other hand, just destroy what is around them. If the police are there they will be targeted but if not they'll smash cars, windows, start fires, etc.

Looters are thieves, plain and simple. They take stuff that isn't theirs and run away with it.

Baltimore has been subjected to all three recently. Unfortunately, the latter two groups often use the actions of a the first group as a cover for themselves.

[Patroklos]

Only white people are allowed to revolt in this country it seems.

Can't take my guns away oh no. I need my M4 for home defense just trust me. Tired of being suppressed by years of institutional racism well too bad that sucks. Don't make me live in fear for a week with your violence! I don't care that minorities live every day of their entire lives in fear of racist police, or becoming gang fodder after being trapped in the ghettos. But that Obama man i'm just saying we may have to do something if he dares to make me sign a form indicating I have no history of crime or mental illness before I purchase my Barrett.

Uh, excuse me, the article said nothing about the protesters using guns. Which makes it completely different from constitutionally protected 2nd Amendment solutions

Are you actually saying that these "protestors" (I prefer to call them rioters because calling them protestors legitimizes their actions) are less entitled to do what they're doing because they're not using guns? That violence becomes more legitimate if you escalate to the point of using firearms? Has the gun cult really gotten that bad in American politics (rhetorical question- of course it has)?

Let's be consistent. Using violence, particularly violence against innocent people (because rioters are not known for picking their targets with great care to avoid collateral damage) is not an acceptable way to resolve political grievances. It doesn't matter, or at least it shouldn't matter, weather the people doing it are white or weather they're using guns.

This is supposed to be a democracy where people are accountable to the law. Maybe that doesn't always work perfectly, but we are hardly at the point where battles in the streets are justified as a way to fix things. Of course, a lot of the rioters probably don't give a damn about reform- I expect a lot of them are just angry people who want to hurt someone.

Jesus dude, uncontort yourself from whatever painful position you tied yourself into to come up with that response. His response is based on CaptHawkeye idiotic post saying white people merely owning a gun is a revolt and is somehow the equivalent of robbing and burning down your local liquor store.

[Elheru Aran]

Example: The Ferguson incidents after Michael Brown's death were mostly protests, with a side of occasional looting.

Baltimore, unfortunately, is looking like mostly rioting and looting with minimal protesting from what I'm hearing, although it's quite possible the news media are mostly covering the former with little regard for the latter.

[Broomstick]

The family of Freddie Gray asked that on the day of his funeral (which is when all hell broke loose) that people NOT protest. So actual protests, the sort that are legitimate and legal, were at a minimum yesterday. Thus, the situation was dominated by those who wanted to smash, burn, and grab.

[KroLazuxy_87]

Example: The Ferguson incidents after Michael Brown's death were mostly protests, with a side of occasional looting.

Baltimore, unfortunately, is looking like mostly rioting and looting with minimal protesting from what I'm hearing, although it's quite possible the news media are mostly covering the former with little regard for the latter.

10,000 Strong Peacefully Protest In Downtown Baltimore, Media Only Reports The Violence & Arrest of Dozens

[Borgholio]

Well at least one rioter is getting what he deserves...by his own mom.

http://abc7.com/684791/

[Haminal10]

Honestly? The rioters and the looters can get straight to hell. There is no excuse that justify burning down your own neighborhood or smashing and robbing local stores. The supporters of Freddie Gray should be mad as hell, and the actions of these idiots is completely drowning out their legitimate grievances with police brutality.

I am hoping that things quiet down tonight. It's taken Baltimore more than four decades to partially recover from the MLK assassination riots of 1968; it would break my heart to see us lose all the progress that we have made.

[Broomstick]

From a Vice President of the Baltimore Orioles, the major league sports team that had a game cancelled due to the riots, which I think sums up some of the root causes behind this event: