Rioting MD

From the G & M:
"Baltimore declares state of emergency as riots erupt after Freddie Gray funeral"

 

Baltimore erupted in violence on Monday as hundreds of rioters looted stores, burned buildings and injured at least 15 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 much of West Baltimore in the most violent U.S. demonstrations since arson and gunfire in Ferguson, Missouri, last year.  Firefighters battled several blazes on Monday evening, including a fire under investigation that consumed a church’s senior center under construction in East Baltimore. Police said looting and assaults against officers continued into the night. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, declared a state of emergency and sent in the National Guard. Police made at least 27 arrests and Baltimore schools will be shut Tuesday. Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake imposed a citywide curfew beginning Tuesday night, with exceptions for work and medical emergencies. Gray’s death on April 19 reignited a public outcry over police treatment of African Americans that flared last year after the killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, New York City and elsewhere. But after several days of peaceful protests over Gray’s death, things turned violent on Monday. Mayor Rawlings-Blake called the looters “thugs” and said they had nothing to do with protests over police brutality. Looters sacked liquor stores, pharmacies, a shopping mall and a check-cashing store. Rioters smashed car windows outside a major hotel and twice slashed a fire hose while firefighters fought a blaze at a CVS pharmacy that had been looted before it was set on fire. An Orioles baseball game was canceled and businesses and train stations shut down in the city of 620,000 people 40 miles (64 km) from the nation’s capital.

 

^ This isn't about the death of Gray. It stopped being about that when the rioting started. Now it is a groups of low-lifes trying to get free stuff. Just as happened in Missouri and in other parts of the US these rioters have sullied the cause of peaceful protest trying to call attention to events around the country. These rioters are also fueling the bad stereotypes that have been around for so long. Stereotypes are usually based on a kernel of truth and now the poor are portrayed as lawless idiots who abuse and harm the peaceful. ^

 

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/mourners-attend-funeral-for-black-man-who-died-in-police-custody/article24137415/