WORLD WAR III
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Title: Continuing riots plunge Baltimore into chaos
Source:
AP
URL Source: [None]
Published: Apr 28, 2015
Author: AP
Post Date: 2015-04-28 02:58:55 by rlk
Keywords: None
Views: 6523
Comments: 36
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Rioters plunged part of Baltimore into chaos Monday, torching a pharmacy, setting police cars ablaze and throwing bricks at officers hours after thousands mourned the man who died from a severe spinal injury he suffered in police custody. The governor declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to restore order - but authorities were still struggling to quell pockets of unrest after midnight. The violence, which began in West Baltimore - within a mile of where Freddie Gray was arrested and pushed into a police van earlier this month - had by the end of the day spread to East Baltimore and neighborhoods close to downtown and near the baseball stadium. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in her first day on the job, said she would send Justice Department officials to the city in coming days. A weeklong, daily curfew was imposed beginning Tuesday from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., the mayor said, and Baltimore public schools announced that they would be closed on Tuesday. At least 15 officers were hurt, including six who remained hospitalized late Monday, police said. Two dozen people were arrested. Officers wearing helmets and wielding shields occasionally used pepper spray to keep the rioters back. For the most part, though, they relied on line formations to keep protesters at bay. Monday's riot was the latest flare-up over the mysterious death of Freddie Gray, whose fatal encounter with officers came amid the national debate over police use of force, especially when black suspects are involved. Gray was African-American. Police have declined to specify the races of the six officers involved in his arrest, all of whom have been suspended with pay while they are under investigation. But Gray's family said violence is not a way to honor him. "I think the violence is wrong," Grays' twin sister, Fredericka Gray, said late Monday. "I don't like it at all." The attorney for Gray's family, Billy Murphy, said the family had hoped to organize a peace march later in the week. Emergency officials were constantly thwarted as they tried to restore calm in the affected parts of the city of more than 620,000 people. Firefighters trying to put out a blaze at a CVS store were hindered by someone who sliced holes in a hose connected to a fire hydrant, spraying water all over the street and nearby buildings. Later Monday night, a massive fire erupted in East Baltimore that a spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake initially said was connected to the riots. He later texted an AP reporter saying officials are still investigating whether there is a connection. The Mary Harvin Transformation Center was under construction and no one was believed to be in the building at the time, said the spokesman, Kevin Harris. The center is described online as a community-based organization that supports youth and families. Kevin Johnson, a 53-year-old resident of the area, said the building was to have been earmarked for the elderly. Donte Hickman, pastor of a Baptist church that has been helping to develop the center, shed tears as he led a group prayer near the firefighters who fought the blaze. "My heart is broken because somebody obviously didn't understand that we were for the community, somebody didn't understand that we were working on behalf of the community to invest when nobody else would," he said. Earlier Monday, the smell of burned rubber wafted in the air in one neighborhood where youths were looting a liquor store. Police stood still nearby as people drank looted alcohol. Glass and trash littered the streets, and other small fires were scattered about. One person from a church tried to shout something from a megaphone as two cars burned. "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," said Rawlings-Blake, a lifelong resident of the city. Obama pledges assistance as needed for Baltimore riots Police urged parents to locate their children and bring them home. Many of those on the streets appeared to be African-American youths, wearing backpacks and khaki pants that are a part of many public school uniforms. The riot broke out just as high school let out, and at a key city bus depot for student commuters around Mondawmin Mall, a shopping area northwest of downtown Baltimore. It shifted about a mile away later to the heart of an older shopping district and near where Gray first encountered police. Both commercial areas are in African-American neighborhoods. Later in the day, people began looting clothing and other items from stores at the mall, which became unprotected as police moved away from the area. About three dozen officers returned, trying to arrest looters but driving many away by firing pellet guns and rubber bullets. Downtown Baltimore, the Inner Harbor tourist attractions and the city's baseball and football stadiums are nearly 4 miles away. While the violence had not yet reached City Hall and the Camden Yards area, the Orioles canceled Monday's game for safety precautions. On Monday night, Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings and about 200 others, mostly men, marched arm-in-arm through a neighborhood littered with broken glass, flattened aluminum cans and other debris, to protest Gray's death. As they got close to a line of police officers, the marchers went down on their knees. After the ministers got back on their feet, they walked until they were face-to-face with the police officers in a tight formation and wearing riot gear. In a statement issued Monday, Attorney General Lynch said she would send Justice Department officials to the city in coming days, including Vanita Gupta, the agency's top civil rights lawyer. The FBI and Justice Department are investigating Gray's death for potential criminal civil rights violations.
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#1. To: rlk (#0)
Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake: "It's a very delicate balancing act. Because while we try to make sure that they were protected from the cars and other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well. Now the mayor is very angry and says that she was quoted "out of context" and that she never said That Bad Thing to begin with. Also, she'll never say it again.
Who is the worst mayor in America? (Associated Press) A mayor’s job, generally speaking, is to be an advocate for their city and to promote its economic well-being. One of the most important ways to achieve this is to attract and retain residents by creating a high quality of life. Livability – defined by density, walkability, and strong public transit – is central to this. Mayors across the country have woken up to the idea and are pushing their cities forward, from Michael Bloomberg to Rahm Emanuel to our own Tom Menino. Just last week, Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett declared that it is time to stop building their city for cars and start creating a place that people want to be. Yet other mayors are stuck in the past, convinced apparently that their cities are one gimmick or convention center away from prosperity. But who is the worst? For our money, Baltimore’s Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is the score to beat. Since assuming office in the wake of Shelia Dixon’s indictment in 2009, Rawlings-Blake’s reign has been characterized by a lack of vision, bungled projects, and ineptitude. She has presided over sweeping cuts to parks and after school activities, tax breaks for a big box superblock development, and straight-up cronyism. Still, nothing typifies SRB’s failure as Baltimore’s mayor better than the ongoing Grand Prix debacle. The city recruited IndyCar to hold an annual race on the streets of downtown Baltimore. Rich with wide thoroughfares and generous curves, downtown streets are ideal for open-wheeled race cars driving 180 miles per hour. Setting aside the questionable optics of staging a car race in the heart of a city, the Baltimore Grand Prix is a logistical nightmare for residents and workers. Concrete barriers and bleachers disrupt travel patterns for drivers, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians alike for a month leading up to the event. Trees are removed in the name of cleaner sightlines. And the noise! Yet Rawlings-Blake champions the event as a critical jolt for the city’s economy, despite all evidence to the contrary. The Baltimore Marathon is responsible a greater economic impact with almost no inconvenience. But the worst part is the blatant corruption behind its planning and execution. Following the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix in 2011, Baltimore Racing Development was having trouble paying its bills. Eventually it filed for bankruptcy and left its creditors (including Baltimore City itself) in a lurch. Obligations, such as replanting those street trees were never fulfilled. For all its trouble, Baltimore got stuck cleaning up after BRD’s mess and paying for it. After everything that happened in 2011, SRB and her team worked feverishly to help create a new organization, Race On LLC, and start planning the 2012 Grand Prix. The new organization is led by her largest campaign contributor and made up almost entirely of the same clowns who botched it up the first time. The same people who absolved themselves of their responsibilities are now collecting salaries to do it all over again. With the mayor’s full blessing and encouragement! This is the true brilliance of SRB’s awfulness. Not only does she aggressively pursue exactly the wrong projects and policies, she employs corrupt and misguided tactics to make sure they happen. Rawlings-Blake can’t be blamed for all of Baltimore’s ills – its drugs and crime, it’s 6-lane one-way streets, or its ineffectual transit system – she inherited those. But we can ask why she insists on thinking backwards and refuses to embrace progressive ideas. Baltimore deserves better. That’s our vote. What do you think? Do you know a mayor who can top it? Leave your suggestions for worst U.S. mayor in the comments. Next week we’ll compile the results and see if someone can dislodge SRB from the top seat.
For our money, Baltimore’s Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is the score to beat. Since assuming office in the wake of Shelia Dixon’s indictment in 2009, Rawlings-Blake’s reign has been characterized by a lack of vision, bungled projects, and ineptitude. She has presided over sweeping cuts to parks and after school activities, tax breaks for a big box superblock development, and straight-up cronyism.... This is the true brilliance of [Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's] awfulness. Not only does she aggressively pursue exactly the wrong projects and policies, she employs corrupt and misguided tactics to make sure they happen. Mayor Marion Barry to the courtesy phone (if Satan will allow you.)
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest "I made it very clear that I work with the police and instructed them to do everything that they could to make sure that the protesters were able to exercise their right to free speech.
#3. To: TooConservative (#1)
#28. To: CZ82 (#3)
Who is the worst [Mayor]?
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