Will Rush to Judgment in Baltimore Lead to More Rioting?

In Baltimore, the ashes have cooled; the curfew has ended; the National Guardsmen have left; and Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have gone home.  But the appearance of normalcy is misleading.  For the looting, vandalism and arson last week following the death of a career petty criminal, Freddie Gray, may return with a vengeance if the six arrested local police officers, three white and three black, are not convicted.  Gray died on April 19 of spinal injuries sustained a week earlier while in police custody.

Maryland State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby last Friday, to exuberant cheers, announced the arrests of the cops for assault and second-degree murder.  Yet the evidence for treating this as a homicide, whether or not racially motivated, is far from conclusive.  In prosecuting the defendants, Mosby effectively has endorsed or at least succumbed to mob rule.

It has become a familiar story over the past year.  A police officer or group of officers encounters an individual behaving in a suspicious manner.  The suspect, rather than cooperate, either flees on foot or becomes violent.  In response, the cop(s), seeing the need for self-defense, reacts with deadly force.  It happened in Staten Island (N.Y.) last July, Ferguson (Mo.) last August, North Charleston (S.C.) early this April, and now Baltimore.  In each case, save for North Charleston, where local officials quickly made a white cop into a sacrificial lamb, the response by black “leaders” an their followers has been aggressive anti-police demonstrations which on occasion have degenerated into rioting.  Black “civil rights” leaders, unwilling to distinguish between cause and effect, have chosen to rationalize the destruction and violence.  As blacks presumably remain victims of an unjust white-dominated society, they argue, rioting is a way of expressing unaddressed grievances. 

Baltimore was a city waiting for riot to happen.  Blacks in 2010 constituted 63 percent of the roughly 620,000 population.  That’s up from 24 percent in 1950 and 46 percent in 1990.  Not unrelated, serious crime, although declining during the last couple decades (as it has in most U.S. cities), remains a major problem.  The city is filled with black neighborhoods which, to put it gently, have seen better days.  Two popular television series, “Homicide:  Life on the Street” (NBC) and “The Wire” (HBO), during their respective runs, depicted the travails of cops trying to keep order in Baltimore’s meaner precincts.  Despite a burst of middle-class downtown residential development, many whites have come to avoid the entering the city, especially during evening hours.  It’s little wonder.  In recent years, dozens of documented black-on-white group attacks have occurred in the Inner Harbor area.  Though four of the last five mayors have been black, as is 43 percent of the police force (including its chief), crime prevention in Baltimore is a round-the-clock job.  Rioting in the wake of the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King set the city down an all-too-familiar path.  Despite native son William Donald Schaefer having accomplished much that was positive during his tenure as mayor (1971-87) before becoming Maryland governor, the breakdown of public order has been real.  And it’s the black underclass driving it.        

That brings us to another native son, Freddie Gray.  His death, which occurred one week after alleged acts of police brutality inside a paddy wagon, triggered rioting.  The result was about 500 arrests, 200 destroyed businesses, and more than 100 police injuries.  The following is a synopsis of the riot and the events leading up to it.     

It was Sunday, April 12, around 8:40 A.M., in an area of Baltimore’s West Side known for drug dealing and violence.  Police working the area spotted a black male, later identified as Freddie Gray, at the corner of North Avenue and Mount Street.  The officers, for reasons not yet revealed, approached Gray.  Having establishing eye contact, Gray fled on foot.  Police gave chase for two blocks, eventually catching up with him.  In the process of arresting Gray, cops discovered a knife, possibly of the switchblade variety, clipped to the inside of his pants.  One of the officers radioed a dispatcher to request a transport van.  Shortly after the van arrived, several bystanders made a homemade video showing two officers on top of Gray, placing their knees on his back, and then dragging his body to the van.

Bigger problems soon would occur on the way to the Western District precinct station.  There would be four stops, although an initial report indicated only three.  Gray was not a happy camper during the trip.  The driver of the van described him as “irate.”  A search warrant application indicated that he “continued to be combative in the police wagon.”  After the second stop, the driver asked an accompanying officer to check up on Gray.   The suspect was on the floor, though conscious.  Police put him back in the seat, minus restraints, as required by the recently revised police procedure manual.  On the final stop, the police picked up another suspect.  Upon arrival at the station, cops opened the door and found Gray in the van, unconscious.  They called emergency medical technicians to the scene.  As of 9:37 A.M., noted the medics, Gray was not breathing and was in cardiac arrest.  He was rushed to University of Maryland Hospital’s shock trauma unit.  But it was too late.  On April 16, Gray went into a coma.  Three days later, on April 19, he died. 

Funeral services tend to be emotional affairs, especially when racial politics enter the picture.  This particular service, a two-hour event held on Monday, April 27 at New Shiloh Baptist Church in Baltimore, was no exception.  Among the many persons in attendance were Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., former Maryland Congressman/NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, and Jesse Jackson.  Reverend Jackson was seated behind the presiding pastor, Reverend Jamal Bryant.  In his eulogy, Bryant, like Jackson, proved a consummate politician.  “Freddie’s death is not in vain,” declared Bryant.  “After this day, we’re going to keep on marching.  After this day, we’re going to keep demanding justice.”  

While most attendees came simply to mourn, some came to avenge.  Police reported that they had received a “credible threat” that three notorious gangs were working in tandem to “take out” law enforcement officers.  Credible or not, it was undeniable that many local thugs were ready to rumble.  A number of them decamped to the nearby Mondawmin Mall, proceeding to loot clothing and other retail stores.  About three dozen officers were summoned to the area, firing pellets and rubber bullets.  Many rioters communicated with friends via cell phone:  It was payback time.  Crowds formed throughout the city.  While many participants were content to march and chant, others took the opportunity to vandalize and steal, setting fire to what remained.  At the downtown Camden Yards stadium, dozens of black thugs threatened or assaulted fans leaving a Baltimore Orioles baseball home game. 

Rep. Cummings, a leading member of the Congressional Black Caucus, led a Monday night march with about 200 other persons through a freshly-trashed neighborhood to protest Gray’s death.  Having approached a police line in tight formation, they dropped to their knees, and then got back up on their feet and went face-to-face with the cops.  Cummings, at 64, might seem an unlikely candidate for a confrontation with police.  .   

Baltimore Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who is black, at least talked a good game.  She stated:  “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, tearing down businesses, tearing down and destroying property, things that we know will impact our community for years.”  Yet the mayor couldn’t bring herself to take the necessary steps to preserve order.  She reportedly gave local police a “stand down” order, effectively denying them the authority to use force.  The mandate emboldened the rioters, many of whom pelted police with rocks and debris, injuring dozens of cops.  Looting and arson escalated, with CVS drug stores, liquor stores and vacant police cars the preferred targets.  Eventually, Mayor Rawlings-Blake lifted the stand-down order and imposed a 10 P.M.-5 A.M. citywide curfew.  Despite these actions, there has been no mistaking her sympathies.  This past Wednesday, May 6, she requested that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate whether Baltimore police have engaged in a “pattern or practice” of excessive force.  She explained:  “We all know that Baltimore continues to have a fractured relationship between the police and the community.  I needed to look for any and all resources I could bring to my city to get this right for my community.”     

The riot, by then, had been over for about a week.  A combination of 3,000 National Guardsmen and 1,000 police officers from other jurisdictions had restored order.  Arrests would continue, but mainly for violations of the curfew, which was lifted after five days.  “The National Guard represents the last resort in restoring order,” said Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan explaining his decision to call out Guard units. 
Source: http://nlpc.org/stories/2015/05/08/will-rush-judgment-baltimore-lead-more-rioting