Baltimore--this shit's personal

[pumpkinpi]

I'm closely following the happenings in Baltimore--protests, peaceful and not, following the death of a man in police custody. He was arrested and put into a police car apparently unharmed. When he got out of the car, he had a spinal cord injury and later died. The cause of death is still under investigation.

Citizens of Baltimore, like any other city, led peaceful protests the day of the funeral (yesterday.) And like many other city, some of those protests got violent and destructive.

Why is it personal for me?

Baltimore City schools are closed today. A friend of mine is a teacher in a city high school he reported "All day kids were getting a message about something happening at 3pm at school (our school but I heard others too)."

I have many friends who work downtown, at my former place of employment. I hope they feel safe.

And the worst part: my brother in law owns a restaurant right were some of the riots were happening. A bar across the street got windows broken, and other stores nearby were looted. He said that they closed 10 minutes before that happened, and the rioters were only targeting open business, so they got lucky.
Short-term, though. This could affect his business in the long term. People aren't going to want to come to that area for a while. And he said "conventions are cancelling" so in the months and possibly years ahead he could lose out on a revenue stream.

According to my friends and family there, the news reports are way overstating it. 10,000 people protested peacefully. 100 did not--that's 1%. It wasn't the whole city erupting in violence. It was a select few that probably had no real intent, just saw the occasion as an opportunity to act up.

It's just a mess. Is it the police officers' fault for unnecessarily killing they man? Hopefully we'll get to the bottom of that. Is it the fault of the rioters? Is it the fault of the police department in general for not showing respect for all citizens of Baltimore, leading to the distrust that was acted upon? Is it the media's fault for inaccurate reporting? We'll see how this plays out.

[Cyborg Girl]

At this point, I mostly wish that the police would get their shit together and stop murdering people. That is completely unacceptable.

(No, I don't like rioters either. But on the scale of injustice, murder in cold blood is waaaaaay worse than destruction of property.)

[Rommie]

I got pissed off earlier today at some people on my FB feed who were saying stuff like "no one was paying attention to the peaceful protests, so things have to get violent to get people's attention." Um wait, what? I'm pretty sure looting isn't exactly the same umbrella as protest that turns violent, even if you think that's ok in the first place.

[Thumper]

I've been following this and wondered how personal it still was for you, Pumpkin. I've been to that restaurant and it is just a few short blocks from the convention center. I didn't realize that that area was where some rioting occurred.

While I can understand why the rioting occurs, I could never justify it, and as a logical person (I try to be), I can never see how rioting would be a means of accomplishing their goals. Especially when you're mad at the police force or the government, so you trash a locally owned liquor store or restaurant owned, operated, and staffed by your friends and neighbors???

Hoping for the best. This just seems to keep happening over and over.

[Thumper]

Wait until a vicious riot by an uncontrollable mob takes place in your neighborhood and see what you complain about.
In fact, I didn't realize I was complaining, but...

[Cyborg Girl]

Blargh. @Thumper - sorry I deleted that earlier post, I thought better of it (and thought nobody had seen it).

Now that I have to stand by my words... Look, I don't know what it's like to have riots near your neighborhood. I'll give you that. OTOH, how many of you have had a son or daughter outright fucking murdered by police officers, with no recourse in the court system?

Yes riots are bad, yes they're inexcusable, etc. etc. etc. But murder is even more inexcusable. That is my point.

[pumpkinpi]

GJ you are right. What we NEED is to find out how Freddy Gray suffered his spinal injury. Whatever the cause, the police inside that car were responsible for his safety. Maybe it was completely self inflicted, or maybe a police officer deliberately snapped his neck. I have a feeling the truth of what happened in that car will never be made clear.

But you know what is going to happen? When that information is released, no matter what the it is, some people are going to cause trouble again.

The police weren't at fault? COVER UP! Let's riot because of that injustice.

The police were at fault? POLICE BRUTALITY AND RACISM! Let's riot.

The incident with Freddy Gray directly caused these riots. But his death/murder does not justify them.

This is a much bigger issue than one single incident. What Baltimore needs to do is get to the root of why those specific people rioted. Only then will they be able to take positive steps forward and minimize/eliminate its occurrence in the future.

Update: My BIL's business is safe and open. However, my teacher friend's car was one of many in a row with smashed windows, outside his home, which he discovered when he was leaving to go with community members to do riot cleanup.

[Cyborg Girl]

@pumpkinpi - I hope I wasn't being too nasty and/or dismissive earlier. My apologies.

I don't consider riots useful, necessary, or appropriate either. But I do think that the media tends to focus on the riots, and fallout of police brutality, to a much greater extent than police brutality itself. While I would hesitate to take Spike Lee's position on this (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_the_Rig ... troversies), I do think the news media dependably focuses on the lesser evil - and I do think it's a matter of racism.

[Thumper]

Well, here's what I should have said: This is Pumpkinpi's personal BMR thread about things, scary things directly affecting her former home, her family, and her friends. If we want to have a discussion about the death of Freddy Gray in particular, and suspected police brutality in general, I suggest we start a separate thread on those subjects.

[pumpkinpi]

Well, here's what I should have said: This is Pumpkinpi's personal BMR thread about things, scary things directly affecting her former home, her family, and her friends. If we want to have a discussion about the death of Freddy Gray in particular, and suspected police brutality in general, I suggest we start a separate thread on those subjects.

No worries, keep it here. And I didn't see GJ's deleted post so I have no comment about whatever it was. Carry on!

[pumpkinpi]

An update from my mom:
OK, friends, this time the report are right--setting fires, breaking windows, looting by many, rock and brick and full water bottles being thrown. (Nothing untoward happened Sunday)
It all began when city high schools got out. (Anybody surprised?) Fueled by social media, approximately two hundred kids headed toward a couple of locations in the city. Not much happened until many slightly older youth came and joined. Police were ready with shields and helmets with their face shields up. By late afternoon, things started happening--things being thrown at officers, fires set, etc. Police had strict orders not to try stopping the hooligans and not to fire weapons unless public safety was threatened. 144 fires set--one to a partially built set of apartments for senior citizens. It was huge and it was totally destroyed. Right now the thinking is that it was arson because of how big it was.
Several officers -one critically--and a few participants were injured. The last time B'more had riots like this was in 1968, when MLK was killed. Many business owner and their employees are losing a lot of money. This includes bars and restaurants because there's a 10 o'clock curfew in the city. And it'll be awhile before people will decide to go to the city to eat, to the theater, to museums, to shop, etc. We know people affected by this, and some are wondering if they'll ever get back to the level their places were.
on a slightly brighter note, there was a contingency of black and white ministers who gathered together and walked the streets and helped defer a little of the violence. And my favorite--a lady saw her kid on TV and drove right down, found him, whopped him with her handbag and took him home. Don't know whether anything will happen tonight, with the N'tl Guard deployed (they were there late night, but mostly undeployed at the time).

[Cyborg Girl]

Yeah, kids, set fire to the houses of your elders! Burn down the town! That's going to make the government listen!

Right-o.



There has got to be a better way than this. This is just fucked.

[Thumper]

I saw the video of the Mom finding her kid and smacking him around and chasing him home. The Orioles play today, a day game instead of a standard night game, with no fans in the stadium.

[Cyborg Girl]

Just got an email from MoveOn about this... It had a a nice quote from the Baltimore Sun:

Victims include a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-old pregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old woman selling church raffle tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon rolling a cigarette and an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson.

Those cases detail a frightful human toll. Officers have battered dozens of residents who suffered broken bones—jaws, noses, arms, legs, ankles—head trauma, organ failure, and even death, coming during questionable arrests. Some residents were beaten while handcuffed; others were thrown to the pavement.

So yeah. Rioting is not cool. But if your mom were beaten to death by police officers, don't you think you might be inclined to start breaking things?

Also from the email...

But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard.

This country is so utterly fucked.

[pumpkinpi]

Just got an email from MoveOn about this... It had a a nice quote from the Baltimore Sun:

Victims include a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-old pregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old woman selling church raffle tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon rolling a cigarette and an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson.

Those cases detail a frightful human toll. Officers have battered dozens of residents who suffered broken bones—jaws, noses, arms, legs, ankles—head trauma, organ failure, and even death, coming during questionable arrests. Some residents were beaten while handcuffed; others were thrown to the pavement.

So yeah. Rioting is not cool. But if your mom were beaten to death by police officers, don't you think you might be inclined to start breaking things?

Does this article refer to deaths that have happened in these riots, or in the past? I haven't heard of any connected with these. I'd like to see the context for those paragraphs you quoted.

Yes, someone might be inclined to breaking things if their mom were beaten. But it is still not justified, and it is still illegal.

I'm on the same side as you--the real story needs to get out and if the officers were responsible for the death they should be charged with murder. But let the authorities and citizens who can act rationally take care of that. Rioting does no good.

[Cyborg Girl]

@pumpkinpi - agreed. It's not acceptable. I don't know, I guess I just feel the media handling of this situation sucks. (At least on NPR.)

To be honest I'm pissed at the rioters too, because they effectively stole the spotlight and created a distraction IMO.

[code monkey]

Blargh. @Thumper - sorry I deleted that earlier post, I thought better of it (and thought nobody had seen it).

Now that I have to stand by my words... Look, I don't know what it's like to have riots near your neighborhood. I'll give you that. OTOH, how many of you have had a son or daughter outright fucking murdered by police officers, with no recourse in the court system?

Yes riots are bad, yes they're inexcusable, etc. etc. etc. But murder is even more inexcusable. That is my point.

no recourse? not so.

disclaimer:
michael and i lived and worked in baltimore for several years. elliot was born there.
i have many relatives who live and work there.

[pumpkinpi]

Ok, so now I'm posting in personal mode, not debate mode. I'll save that for the other thread.

I talked to my sister about this over the weekend. Some context.
1. She (Molly) has lived in Maryland for nearly 20 years. For more than a decade, she and her husband (Matt) lived worked right where these things have been happening, so they know it first hand. They moved to a suburb, almost a rural area, almost 10 years ago.
Molly worked downtown for a long time before her company moved to the suburbs. Matt continues to go downtown daily, as he has owned his business for 6 years and worked in the area even before then.
2. Of the recent incidents--Matt was there, literally. Molly talked to our cousin who works in a city high school, and a cop she works out with who was literally on the front lines.
3. I take the words of my sister seriously. She may not have all the facts 100% or know the complete story. But she will relay things without sensationalizing them. If she is skeptical about something she heard, she'll say so. She is the most honest and unselfish person I know.

There was small-scale rioting before Monday. On Saturday, a group of kids broke some windows in an upscale mall in the Inner Harbor. Molly said this is a big group of kids who have been doing things like this for a long time. I asked if they are known as any named gang, and she said no, but she's seen them and everyone knows who they are. These are schoolkids taking advantage of a bad situation to make some high-profile trouble.

Sunday or Monday was the peaceful protest. Molly said that they closed off the streets so they could do so, and everyone was ok with that, even city officials.

Then Monday around lunchtime, highschoolers knew something was going to happen before anything else did. On social media they were promoting "The Purge," after the recent movie that (by my memory) had a town/state/country that had a 12-hour time period when all crime is legal. This was fueled by that group of kids, by Molly's account and my cousin's account. On Tuesday, one of my cousin's students asked him what size shoes he wears. Apparently, he had stolen some the day before. My cousin was pissed and told the student off.

I talked about this one earlier. On Monday night, when the big riots began, Matt saw the group coming up the street. He quickly closed and got his staff out of there. 10 minutes later, they went into the restaurant across the street, punched the owner in the nose, and broke some windows. He Matt hadn't closed, it could have been him. Lucky the rioters didn't try to break in to his place.

Tuesday, there was more of the social media targeting. Molly works in a suburb, and the mall across from her building was one targeted, so she had to be evacuated. Nothing ended up happening there. It's removed enough from the city that no one understood why it would have been on the list.

My sister works out with a city detective who is 48 years old--2 years from retirement. She's usually not on the street, but has been called in for this. As of yesterday she had worked 10 days straight, 12 hour shifts, with no end in sight. She's literally on the front lines, one of the police offers with shields to hold back the rioters. She's seen her fellow police officers get beaten and stabbed. She is telling this not to get sympathy. When she joined the force, she knew this is what she signed up for. She's just telling the story.

The CITY WIDE curfew of 9pm (10pm?) was finally lifted Sunday. Imagine that. You COULD NOT be on the streets unless going to/from your job, or in an emergency. No popping to the corner store for some milk. Finish your dinner out by 9:30 and then get home. Not just my BIL, but people ALL OVER THE CITY lost a ton of revenue for a whole week.

Yesterday, my sis took Maisy to brunch at Maisy's. She said it was still deserted--so creepy. No cars on the street, noone walking around.

More thoughts to come, if I have any more.

[pumpkinpi]

Here's some more perspective from deeper into the inside. This is written by a white friend in Baltimore. He was my mother's student teacher in Michigan 15 years ago (high school english) and when he was looking for jobs, she encouraged him to look in Baltimore. My sis and I already lived there, and she thought it would be a good fit for him. She knew even then he would excel as a teacher.

He's worked in the same city high school for 14 years--86% black. He's a beloved teacher. He even won the prestigious Milken Educator Award. http://www.milkeneducatorawards.org/ He came out as gay a year or so ago, and his partner is African-American. So you can imagine, he sees everything going on from as close as you can get to the inside.

http://epiphanyinbmore.blogspot.com/