ADVERTISEMENT

Baltimore police abandoned by Fed and State governments. No

“We worked very hard to get CVS to come here,” Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told reporters there. “What happened last night (burning it down) means that more people are struggling.”

What does this mean; what is she trying to say? I added the parenthesis part.
That doesn't make much sense. A lot of people struggle but they don't loot and commit arson. I don't believe the assertions made by some of the mayor giving people free rein to do any of that stuff but there is also no such thing as striking a balance between the peaceful protesters and the criminals. Once the fur started to fly the police should have been ordered in to squelch it. You don't play a "wait and see" game hoping it'll just go away.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KidTwist
Morning folks. Order seems to be being restored. Couple of thoughts: Dem for a change I disagree with you. The momentum and energy of both young and empty nesters moving back in to the city will resume. Come to Canton, Fells Pt, Harbor East and Federal Hill am(all around the Harbor) and see the growth. It will continue. Order will be re-stored. The rioters at the Mall were from one school or the surrounding neighborhood. Recovery there will be rougher. Most of the kids in B'more stayed in last night and out of the fray. I know, my son is a teenager in a public high school. He and the kids on his baseball team kept in text contact after practice until they knew all players were home and accounted for. I have spent a lot of time at school the last 3 years watching him and his team mates play and being involved. There are far more achievers from every corner of the city than there are losers like those on the news last night. People want to be able to walk to healthcare, restaurants, the Ravens and O's, abd the Harbor. You can do that here at a price most can afford.
Rally caps on!


Just got an email that they are looting the Gmart on E. Baltimore and S. Eaton St.
 
The riots and ensuing criminal activities are terrible. No doubt about that. However, it always amazes me how some people - on and off this board - conveniently ignore the very basis for which it happened - the aforementioned nickel ride.

However, what happened in Baltimore is not just a result of the nickel ride. It is also a result of the incidents of the last few months/years in Missouri, New York, California, Florida and other places. It's going to get worse before it gets better - if it ever does.

I just wish people would be patient, wait for all the facts to come out before deciding to destroy neighborhoods. Even if the police are at fault, I don't see how rioting solves the problem. The police need to clean up their image, get rid of the bad eggs, and the communities need better leadership when these incidents occur.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 91Joe95
I just wish people would be patient, wait for all the facts to come out before deciding to destroy neighborhoods. Even if the police are at fault, I don't see how rioting solves the problem. The police need to clean up their image, get rid of the bad eggs, and the communities need better leadership when these incidents occur.
Last night CNN interviewed a guy on the street. He seemingly wasn't involved in the criminal activity but expressed his frustration with the government and police. In regard to the rioting he said people just wanted to take back what was theirs. I'm still trying to figure out how arson and looting accomplishes that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1ofBradleysBoys
I just wish people would be patient, wait for all the facts to come out before deciding to destroy neighborhoods. Even if the police are at fault, I don't see how rioting solves the problem. The police need to clean up their image, get rid of the bad eggs, and the communities need better leadership when these incidents occur.
Agree...fighting violence with violence doesn't seem to be the appropriate message. The trouble makers appears to be kids and people from outside the community.

I've had some experience with the criminal justice system and its pretty bad. Money and influence rules. Its no wonder people are very, very frustrated. Attention needs to be given to reform. Maybe this is the only way; who knows. Regardless, its very sad for the people living in the area trying to revitalize.

I was thinking about considering something in downtown CLE. This is, of course, the problem. The suburbs are quiet, boring and have good schools (for the most part). Downtown swings from cool to dangerous year in and year out. Before making a $300k investment, I want to make sure there is stability. People in Balt are now suffering huge real estate losses as those in Fergusson suffered a few months ago. CVS probably won't move back, nor will grocery stores......it creates a death spiral.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nittany Ned2
I believe she's trying to say that the elderly and infirmed now don't have convenient way to pick up their prescriptions or healthcare products or minute clinic. Now, they have to get on a bus and go to another part of the city.

Both CVS and Rite Aid have made substantial investments in new stores in impoverished neighborhoods all over the city. A Rite Aid was smashed up and looted about 15 blocks from the CVS.
I am sure that is correct. Here in CLE, a big problem with living downtown is convenient access to grocery stores and pharmacies who are hesitant to invest in the city due to this very concern. Here, a local store moved in after the city subsidized it by guaranteeing minimum revenue streams then the city had to hire 24 hour security guards after shop lifting became a major problem.
 
...and where is the Rev. Jackson helping to quell the unabashed destruction of the city?....

Fear not, help is on the way.

Dignitaries_IMG_1655.jpg
 
Last night CNN interviewed a guy on the street. He seemingly wasn't involved in the criminal activity but expressed his frustration with the government and police. In regard to the rioting he said people just wanted to take back what was theirs. I'm still trying to figure out how arson and looting accomplishes that.
I saw a similar interview (might have been the same CNN interview) when I was picking up my mother-in-law at a local senior care facility yesterday. I felt sad because the young man spoke out of frustration and emotion with no recourse to reason. He almost seemed at a loss to understand what he had said. The future is bleak for many of these young people. Taking back what is "theirs" gives them a surge of power and feeling of control of their environment in the very near term, but what are the odds for the overwhelming majority of these young people getting just decent jobs as adults? How is such a problem solved? Not very easily.
 
Agree...fighting violence with violence doesn't seem to be the appropriate message. The trouble makers appears to be kids and people from outside the community.

I've had some experience with the criminal justice system and its pretty bad. Money and influence rules. Its no wonder people are very, very frustrated. Attention needs to be given to reform. Maybe this is the only way; who knows. Regardless, its very sad for the people living in the area trying to revitalize.

I was thinking about considering something in downtown CLE. This is, of course, the problem. The suburbs are quiet, boring and have good schools (for the most part). Downtown swings from cool to dangerous year in and year out. Before making a $300k investment, I want to make sure there is stability. People in Balt are now suffering huge real estate losses as those in Fergusson suffered a few months ago. CVS probably won't move back, nor will grocery stores......it creates a death spiral.

No most of the people Sat night and last night are def. from the community. Of the 36 or so people arrested on Sat. night 28 of them had Baltimore addresses. Maybe there were outside agitators starting the whole thing but the kids burning the city last night were from Baltimore.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hagberg
The issue of "food deserts"; lack of access to decent grocery/drug stores is a big problem that people don't fully understand. When I lived in Bolton Hill we would often drive out to the suburbs to better grocery and big box stores. That requires transportation and time, something that a lot of impoverished people don't have.

I was thinking last night that some of the local "televangelical" clergy sure didn't help things yesterday. As much as the cops should have anticipated the situation they too should have been at Mondawmin sooner to quell that. If you're going to lead a protest all week long then you need to take a little ownership when things go south too.


I agree with what you said about lack of grocery stores/drug stores in the city. About the only one close to me is Eddies Market and thats really not a viable option for buying groceries. As for drug stores there was a CVS a few blocks away. Provided its still there when I get back.

I have to disagree with you about the Clergy, yea it might have taken a while to get going but you cant just round up 100's of men in minutes when parts of the city are in flames and hard to get to.
INMO both the Clergy and the Nation of Islam did an outstanding job last night. Things were just happening to fast for instantaneous response and results.
 
Anarchists and criminals. Baltimore is a great city and it sickens me to watch this wanton destruction.

Is it a great city for the 50% of black men that are chronically unemployed? Is it a great city for black men and boys who are targeted and abused by the police? Is it a great city for Freddie Gray who was arrested and subsequently killed for "unprovoked running"? The kids rioting don't care about the city because there is nothing for them to care about.
 
The real sadness is that there are two Americas, there has never been the collective will to end this. Get back to me in 2-3000 years.
 
I hear what you're saying....and I know that there were a bunch of NOI guys out doing their best (no snark). It was, as with the police a little late.

You know as well as I know...Mondawmin Mall is just an unpredictable location. Lot's of flashpoint activity happens there all the time. Unsupervised teenagers getting together, making bad decisions.

Def. agree. that their should have been more of a police presence at the mall. But I will not blame the Clergy or NOI for not being there or doing more.

I got caught up in the mess on Sat. night coming back from visiting friends in DC.
I was stuck on Light St. when the shit hit the fan.
I ran 2 red lights and went the wrong way up an alley to get to Calvert St.
After that it was ok.
And getting home last night was no picnic either.
SRB, Police Commish, GOV. waited way too long to do anything. Maybe I'll give them a pass for Sat. night but that should have been a wake up call to get prepared for Last night.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: PSUcubbie
The real sadness is that there are two Americas, there has never been the collective will to end this. Get back to me in 2-3000 years.
Please enlighten me. Name the two Americas and list the characteristics of each.
 
Nothing about liberalism, etc. Just having fun with the fact that modern day racists just speak in code, qualify their statements with "I'm not racist or anything, BUT..." and always use the "I have a black friend" line to justify their not-racism-racism. Just be straight up about it.

By the way, the conservative south is the region with the highest crime rates, so.....

Interesting, where in this conservative south are these crimes occuring? I'm in NOLA, but I'm sure they are the exception to the rule in terms of where this crime is occurring. When you play the card, you should really have a good reason to. If you do it early and often it loses it value. Just an FYI.

Stupidity exists everywhere, with every occupation, and with every color. No need to justify it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ski
Interesting, where in this conservative south are these crimes occuring? I'm in NOLA, but I'm sure they are the exception to the rule in terms of where this crime is occurring. When you play the card, you should really have a good reason to. If you do it early and often it loses it value. Just an FYI.

Stupidity exists everywhere, with every occupation, and with every color. No need to justify it.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/1312...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

(Edited link to provide most recent)
 
Last night CNN interviewed a guy on the street. He seemingly wasn't involved in the criminal activity but expressed his frustration with the government and police. In regard to the rioting he said people just wanted to take back what was theirs. I'm still trying to figure out how arson and looting accomplishes that.

That's where a lot of the problem comes in. What does that mean? I think some of that is due to the strong sense of entitlement many in this country have. However, I think that whatever your politics, one thing that we can agree on is that the policies of the last 50 years ("the War on Poverty" etc.) haven't worked. Doubling down on those policies isn't going to make it work any better. Maybe it is time to rethink it all. The Declaration says we are endowed as citizens with three things: "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". It never guaranteed that we would get the last one.
 
You realize that DC, MD, and Delaware are 3 of those 10. Alaska and New Mexico are 2 of the other 10. It's a cute link that you tried to pass off as of a left versus right thing I guess, but that had little to do with conservative versus liberal crime. I live in Louisiana and you won't like the links I could post in terms of the crime and where it is occurring. In fact the link didn't even support what you typed. I'm neither a liberal or conservative as both parties have been epic power hungry failures, but feel free to slap some labels on me. It's cute.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ski
You realize that DC, MD, and Delaware are 3 of those 10. Alaska and New Mexico are 2 of the other 10. It's a cute link that you tried to pass off as of a left versus right thing I guess, but that had little to do with conservative versus liberal crime. If fact it didn't even support what you typed. I'm neither a liberal or conservative as both parties have been epic power hungry failures, but feel free to slap some labels on me. It's cute.

5 out of 10 are in the South.

Does the south make up 50% of all states?

Also, you can check the FBI's stats for the highest murder rates by region. #1? The south.
 
UPDATE: The Mayor’s Office issued a statement this afternoon about the comments above:

BALTIMORE, Md. (April 27, 2015)—Today, Howard Libit, Director of Strategic Planning and Policy, issued the following statement regarding Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s comments on the rights of protesters:

“What she is saying within this statement was that there was an effort to give the peaceful demonstrators room to conduct their peaceful protests on Saturday. Unfortunately, as a result of providing the peaceful demonstrators with the space to share their message, that also meant that those seeking to incite violence also had the space to operate. The police sought to balance the rights of the peaceful demonstrators against the need to step in against those who were seeking to create violence.

The mayor is not saying that she asked police to give space to people who sought to create violence. Any suggestion otherwise would be a misinterpretation of her statement.”


btw Rawlings-Blake was elected to the city council in 1995. became president in 2007. the former mayor resigned in 2010, and she was appointed mayor per the city's charter, She was then elected in 2011 with 87 percent of the vote. She has done a lot to address urban blight in her time, receiving an award from the Urban Land Institute.


Watch this video and tell me that these officers taking on deadly force were not told by their superiors to just stand there and take it...its difficult to watch.

 
Not sure I buy a study that has *Alaska* as a "dangerous state".

It's because it is per capita.
5 out of 10 are in the South.

Does the south make up 50% of all states?

Also, you can check the FBI's stats for the highest murder rates by region. #1? The south.

I live in New Orleans, you want the break down of where these crimes are occurring in terms of the areas and how they actually vote? I really think your either very naive or not smart enough to understand what you just linked.
 
Watch this video and tell me that these officers taking on deadly force were not told by their superiors to just stand there and take it...its difficult to watch.

They were told to stand there and take it. I wonder what the exact orders were with respect to the use of force, specifically firearms. What if the rioters had started pulling out firearms? What if they had semi-automatic weapons? The police were ripe for a slaughter there. Standing firm and attempting to hold the line was honorable, but not practical for safety and they are fortunate that there was only one serious casualty. What was the viable alternative though? If the police had responded with force, they would have provoked an even greater escalation of violence and they would have really been at a firepower disadvantage. This was long before the Guard was activated.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Nittany Ned2
We disagree (no worries)...If you're going to lead a protest (right, wrong or otherwise) then a certain amount of responsibility goes along with it. Don't get me wrong, it's a shared responsibility, police, political and community. Yesterday was sad and unfortunate.

The kids got out of school, the parents were still at work, the community leaders were still at the memorial service and the police weren't on the street yet. ...unfortunate.

God help us on Friday.

Yea I'm very concerned for the rest of the week. Schools will probably be closed giving them all time to formulate a plan and now the weather is getting nice. I know mentioning the weather sounds stupid but I strongly believe the only thing that kept Sat. night from not becoming as bad as last night was that it was cold and rainy.
 
They were told to stand there and take it. I wonder what the exact orders were with respect to the use of force, specifically firearms. What if the rioters had started pulling out firearms? What if they had semi-automatic weapons? The police were ripe for a slaughter there. Standing firm and attempting to hold the line was honorable, but not practical for safety and they are fortunate that there was only one serious casualty. What was the viable alternative though? If the police had responded with force, they would have provoked and even greater escalation and they would have really been at a firepower disadvantage. This was long before the Guard was activated.

Yea this is very disturbing. I don't see what this strategy accomplished. If there was excessive use of force by the police then suspend the police, announce a thorough investigation and prosecute the officers that were responsible if the investigation warrants prosecution. At the same time, let it be known that any type of violent demonstrations, rioting and looting will not be tolerated, and take measures to eliminate it before it starts. All this strategy did was reinforce the belief that this is the normal response to injustice, perceived or real. The never ending cycle keeps on rolling.
 
Yea I'm very concerned for the rest of the week. Schools will probably be closed giving them all time to formulate a plan and now the weather is getting nice. I know mentioning the weather sounds stupid but I strongly believe the only thing that kept Sat. night from not becoming as bad as last night was that it was cold and rainy.


Tom Rinaldi and ESPN should have been here Sat. night and last night.
They'd see what a riot really looks like.:mad:
 
It was kicked off by high school kids near Mondawin Mall near Coppin State. Mondawin Mall is pretty well known to be a place where trouble happens. (FWIW, it's way uptown from Fed Hill and Canton)

I lived in Bolton Hill for 5 years in the early 90's. Bolton Hill is a drop dead gorgeous upscale, urban neighborhood. Lots of 4 story, brownstone townhouses, beautiful 19th century churches. This afternoon, as the mob broke up and filtered off of North Ave they drifted through Bolton Hill and smashed up a little strip mall in Bolton Hill. We always had kids from the above neighborhoods filtering through just trolling for opportunities.

The section of North Ave and Pennsylvania Ave used to be a pretty rough area. It's not too far from Mondawin Mall. I can remember hearing automatic weapons fire from that area back in the early 90's. I remember going with my dad to pick up dinner at a KFC on North Ave and Charles, the drive through window was a bullet proof glassed carrousel. My dad just looked at me and said "boy, this is not a good sign".

Welcome to Baltimore Hon!!

There used to be a KFC right across from that CVS that burned, now I think its a Beauty Salon.
Bolton Hill is gorgeous as is Gilford and MT. Vernon. (but I'm biased I live in Mt. Vernon Mews). LOL.
I'm getting emails from friends that are telling me that there is a credible rumor (is that even a real thing?)
that there is now a planned "march" in Edgewood and Bel Air.
If your familiar with the city you know that when they imploded all the section 8 highrises in the city they moved the residents
to Edgewood. Crime has gone through the roof there since '96-'97.
So I'd like to say I'm surprised but I'm not.:(
 
I know Edgewood. My wife and I were living in Bolton Hill when they started imploding the Lexington projects....Man, what a cesspool. I did not know that they relocated everyone out there. I thought that they moved everyone into the townhouses that replaced the high rises.

You know back in the early 90's North Ave had a large open air heroin trade. It was very common to hear semi auto pistol fire. We would lie in bed at night and just hear the weapons going off. It took a lot of hard work by community, city leaders and police to turn that around.

We had to live near Penn Station. Many of our friends were in the same situation too. One spouse worked in Philly or NYC and the other in DC. We all took the trains North or South.


I don't think it was everyone at least not all of the Lexington projects but IIRC there were 3 or 4 other high rises that were imploded around that same time period.

Yea that area of North Ave is pretty bad the section around Greenmount is still really bad.

Baltimore in the 90's under Schmoke was a mess. For as much as I hated O'Malley as Gov. I actually thought he did some good as
Mayor.

There still is a fairly large drug/Heroin market at Gwynn Falls and Liberty Hgts.
 
I know Edgewood. My wife and I were living in Bolton Hill when they started imploding the Lexington projects....Man, what a cesspool. I did not know that they relocated everyone out there. I thought that they moved everyone into the townhouses that replaced the high rises.

You know back in the early 90's North Ave had a large open air heroin trade. It was very common to hear semi auto pistol fire. We would lie in bed at night and just hear the weapons going off. It took a lot of hard work by community, city leaders and police to turn that around.

We had to live near Penn Station. Many of our friends were in the same situation too. One spouse worked in Philly or NYC and the other in DC. We all took the trains North or South.


Seems that rumor was credible enough that they locked down Edgewood High School.
I think I'm leaving work early the rest of the week.
 
don't take this the wrong way but I would even consider going away for a long weekend. Friday could be rough. Drive up to Philly or NYC or even out to the burbs. I know it sounds like chickensh!t and maybe it is but better safe than sorry.

Yea I'm thinking its time to visit my mom. She wanted some work done around the house anyway.
 
“We worked very hard to get CVS to come here,” Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told reporters there. “What happened last night (burning it down) means that more people are struggling.”

What does this mean; what is she trying to say? I added the parenthesis part.

It means CVS was right not to want to come there.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT