Baltimore riots continued into the morning, even despite the presence of National Guardsmen, and some observers think that recent off-the-cuff remarks made by the embattled city’s mayor aren’t helping the situation.
In fact, her telling reporters that both peaceful protestors and destructive demonstrators need “space” to vent their anger over the Freddie Gray killing is about as incendiary as one can get, without actually participating in the melee.
Baltimore’s up in flames as it is, amid days now of nonstop looting, vandalism, arson, and violent police clashes, so it’s probably never been more important for its leaders to be careful what they do and say.
Today, hundreds of National Guard soldiers began patrolling the devastated city, and thousands more are said to be waiting to be activated, since it’s become perfectly clear that law and order is nowhere to be seen yet.
Most of the mayhem in the Baltimore riots doesn’t even come from the Black Lives Matter protestors themselves, but from ordinary hoodlums who thrive on conflict and who’ve come solely to take advantage of the current crisis.
Apart from similar congregations and conflagrations in Ferguson Missouri’s “Justice for Michael Brown” rallies gone amok, it’s the worst such rioting in Baltimore since Martin Luther King was assassinated.
But, while King’s murder may have merited violent protesting, it’s very hard to believe the same can be said of common criminal suspects, which in all of these controversial police killings of late has been the case, without exception.
The lives of peaceful people of all colors matter and bad cops suck -- agreed -- but there is just no excuse whatsoever for this level of lawlessness, and no “space” for it should be given.
EPONYMOUS ROX @EponymousRox
