We’re slowly losing the distinction between the protest and the riot.
Last night, chaos broke out in Baltimore after protests against the death of Freddie Gray turned into riots that damaged property and police cars, and resulted in the arrests of more than 30 people. Baltimore city officials denounced the violence as the work of “splinter groups”—isn’t that always the case?—but the fact that over 300 officers were deployed and engaged in the area around Camden Yards sends that friendly narrative right down the toilet.
One producer paid the price for covering the protests, and was robbed on camera as she filmed a group of teens running the streets. In the video below, you’ll see the producer become surrounded, and then thrown to the ground as the crowd becomes more frenzied. The producer filming the scene was forced to give chase after one of the teens ripped her handbag from her person. Fortunately, police intervened soon after.
Watch:
Black lives matter…but not as much as the cash inside a random woman’s purse, apparently.
Today, Baltimore is busy cleaning up the rubble from last night’s rampage:
Along Howard Street, heading toward the Inner Harbor, the damage sustained by storefronts appeared oddly random — like the path of a tornado.Shards of glass glinted in the Sunday sun as business owners assessed the harm done in the protest that resulted in numerous arrests and damaged police vehicles.Ten plate-glass windows of the 7-Eleven on the corner of Howard and Baltimore Streets were cracked. Duct tape was placed over the spider-web-shaped fissures. The store was also looted, said Margaret Chabris, a 7-Eleven corporate spokeswoman.Chabris said the convenience store chain has 12 stores in the Baltimore area and that all were instructed by the chain to close early Saturday night to keep employees safe.
At a press conference late last night, Freddie Gray’s twin sister Fredericka pled for an end to the violence, saying, “[c]an y’all please, please stop the violence?”
She says her brother wouldn’t have wanted it—but I doubt the protesters care very much about that.
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