SOTG 162 – Stop Baltimore From Burning With More Plastic Signs

Proving once again that we are living in an “Any Reason to Riot” period in America, criminals both new and experienced took to the streets of Baltimore, Maryland to commit innumerable acts of violence, lawlessness and destruction. But, what’s new?

We have good news from Big Sky country. Hunters in Montana are now cleared to take their lawfully owned silencers and suppressors to the field. We applaud the legislature in Montana for the forward-thinking move.

SOURCES:

From hosted.ap.org:

Mourners filed for hours Sunday past the coffin of the man who died after sustaining serious injuries in the custody of Baltimore police, somberly paying respects after a night of violent protests.

All afternoon, a steady stream of people entered the funeral home for a wake for Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died a week after an encounter with police left him with grave spinal injuries.

Mourners passed by Gray’s silk-draped, white coffin where he lay dressed in a white shirt, black pants, white sneakers and an all-white Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap.

Above the lid to the coffin was a floral arrangement and inside the lid was a pillow with a screen-printed picture of Gray flanked by doves and the quote, “Peace, Y’all” at the bottom edge.

Mourners also gathered outside the funeral home, Vaughn Green East. Some held up signs that read, “We remember Freddie” and “Our Hearts Are With The Gray Family.”

Melissa McDonald, 36, who said she was Gray’s cousin, wore a shirt with “Freddie Forever” printed on the back. She described her cousin as a nonviolent person.

“He didn’t deserve to die the way he did,” she said.

Several mourners like Tina Covington, 46, said they didn’t know the family but came to express their condolences. Covington said she has a son near Gray’s age.

“It hits home. It really does. It’s a reality check,” said Covington, whose son is 27.

Covington said that “there is something going on in the police department that needs to change.”

Gray’s funeral is planned for Monday.

At a church service earlier Sunday, Pastor Jamal Bryant told churchgoers, including members of Gray’s family, at Empowerment Temple AME Church that “somebody is going to have to pay” for Gray’s death.

Bryant told churchgoers that if “you’re black in America your life is always under threat.” Bryant also talked about violence that erupted Saturday night during what began as a peaceful demonstration attended by more than a thousand people.

Some 34 people were arrested, according to Baltimore Police Department, and six police officers sustained minor injuries.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake held a news conference Sunday evening and called on protesters to be peaceful.

“At the end of the day we are one Baltimore. We need to support peaceful demonstration and continue to enforce in our communities that rioting, violence, and looting will not be tolerated in our city,” the mayor said. “Together we can be one Baltimore and seek answers as we seek justice and as we seek peace.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings, a long-time congressman representing Baltimore’s 7th District, joined the mayor and others at the news conference. He said that “protest is indeed healthy” but he implored people to “be respectful.”

Earlier Sunday, J.M. Giordano – a photo editor at Baltimore’s City Paper – said Baltimore police beat him as he covered one of the protests in west Baltimore. A video posted to the newspaper’s website Sunday shows at least two police officers in riot gear hitting and kicking Giordano as the person filming screams, “He’s a photographer! He’s press!”

Sait Serkan Gurbuz, a photographer with Reuters, said police detained him as he was shooting photographs of the scuffle. He declined to comment further. A statement from Reuters said police also cited Gurbuz for failure to obey orders.

“We hope that the department will dismiss the citation and, going forward, respect the First Amendment right of the press to lawfully take images in the public interest,” Reuters said.

Roughly 1,200 protesters gathered at City Hall on Saturday afternoon, officials said, to protest Gray’s death, which has prompted near-daily demonstrations since he died April 19. Gray was arrested one week before that when officers chased him through a West Baltimore neighborhood and dragged him into a police van.

However, a smaller group splintered off and looted a convenience store and smashed storefront windows. A protester tossed a flaming metal garbage can toward police officers in riot gear trying to push back the crowd. Earlier, a group of protesters smashed windows of at least three police cars.

Police acknowledged Friday that Gray should have received medical attention at the spot where he was arrested – before he was put inside a police transport van handcuffed and without a seat belt, a violation of the Police Department’s policy.

Gray was arrested after he made eye contact with officers and ran away, police said. Officers held him down, handcuffed him and loaded him into the van. While inside, he became irate and leg cuffs were put on him, police have said.

Gray asked for medical help several times, beginning before he was placed in the van. After a 30-minute ride that included three stops, paramedics were called.

Authorities have not explained how or when Gray’s spine was injured.

From www.breitbart.com:

11:19 PM: Boyle reports People were allowed to leave the Orioles’ Stadium at the end of the extra-innings game, right after Baltimore hit a walk-off home run. Seconds earlier, an announcement came over the loudspeaker at the stadium telling fans they were no longer going to be kept in the stadium.

9:58 PM: Investigative reporter Matthew Boyle reports that both he and a family member both tried to escape the scene of destruction and chaos, but were prevented by a forcible lockout. No one is allowed to leave Oriole Park at Camden Yards. There are at least 15,000 people trapped in the stadium — and it’s the bottom of the tenth inning.

From the wires:

Baltimore (AFP) — Protesters smashed police cars and shop windows in downtown Baltimore on Saturday when the biggest demonstration over the death of a young African-American man in police custody turned violent.

More than 1,000 people joined an orderly 90-minute rally at Baltimore city hall demanding justice for Freddie Gray, who died last Sunday from spinal injuries, a week after his arrest in the city’s impoverished west side.

But the mood shifted dramatically when several scores of protesters moved on to the Camden Yards baseball stadium, an hour before the scheduled start of a Baltimore Orioles-Boston Red Sox game.

Live images from local television news helicopters showed a youthful crowd hurling soda bottles and trash cans at police officers alongside the Sports Legends museum and Camden Yards ticket booths.

“Protesters are now breaking windows and throwing items at us,” the Baltimore police department confirmed on its Twitter feed. “We are asking everyone to remain peaceful.”

Others were seen smashing shop windows and blocked intersections, with one motorist getting a rock through her car window, CBS affiliate WBAL reported.

Five police cars were seen by an AFP photographer getting their windows smashed, before riot police moved in.

Tensions have been simmering in the blue-collar Mid-Atlantic port city of 620,000 as investigators try to establish the circumstances that led to Gray’s death.

Speakers at the city hall rally called for President Barack Obama to launch a national inquiry into police misconduct, following a series of fatal confrontations between white police officers and African-American men and boys.

“It has to stop. It really has to stop because it could have been any one of us,” a young male adult member of Gray’s extended family told the crowd.

In a press conference Friday, officials acknowledged Gray should have received medical help at the moment of his arrest, when he was seen by bystanders — and caught on video — howling in apparent pain.

They also revealed that Gray, contrary to police department policy, was not buckled into his seat in the van, which made at least three unexplained stops on its way to the Western District police station.

Gray died Sunday with 80 percent of his spine severed at the neck, lawyers for his family have said. His funeral is scheduled for Monday.

Six officers have been suspended with pay as the police investigation inches closer to a May 1 deadline to submit findings to a Maryland state prosecutor, who could decide to press charges.

Gray’s death is the latest in a string of high-profile confrontations between African Americans and police, including the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in August in the St Louis. suburb of Ferguson.

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Professor Paul Markel

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Paul G. Markel has worn many hats during his lifetime. He has been a U.S. Marine, Police Officer, Professional Bodyguard, and Small Arms and Tactics Instructor. Mr. Markel has been writing professionally for law enforcement and firearms periodicals for nearly twenty years with hundreds and hundreds of articles in print. Paul is a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio talk shows and subject matter expert in firearms training and use of force. Mr. Markel has been teaching safe and effective firearms handling to students young and old for decades and has worked actively with the 4-H Shooting Sports program. Paul holds numerous instructor certifications in multiple disciplines and a Bachelor’s degree in conflict resolution; nonetheless, he is and will remain a dedicated Student of the Gun.

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