Baltimore was devastated after riots, arson, and violence. Wall Street Journal

A firefighter next to a building set on fire right after the funeral of Freddie Gray. WSJ/European Pressphoto Agency.

Widespread rioting, arson and violence continued through the night in Baltimore after the funeral of a man who died in police custody. Wall Street Journal. The National Guard has been deployed and firefighters are still fighting the fires set in the riots in response to the death of Freddie Gray. The city has imposed a curfew between 10 pm and 5am, while schools and government buildings remain closed. Police were overwhelmed and emergency crews had a difficult time responding to all the fires and crimes. One officer was shot at during a robbery but was not hit. 

CNN is reporting that over 200 arrests had been made. Arson was incredibly widespread with 144 vehicle fires and 12 structural fires being reported. 

My Comment:

I was working all night so I wasn't able to follow the rioting as closely as I might have wished. But it is clear to me that the riots were very bad, even in comparison to recent ones. The CNN article has a very good photo gallery that gives you a good idea of how bad things were. The numbers alone are staggering. 

The rioters pretty much destroyed everything. First they set things on fire. Then they attacked the firefighters so they couldn't put on the flames. There was video on CNN of a guy actually running up to a fire hose and slashing it. They set fire to their local drug stores and looted local businesses. They even torched a retirement/nursing home that would have helped their community. 

And people are already making excuses for it. Of course the idea that these kinds of riots and looting could ever be justified is utterly wrong, but people are still trying to do so anyways. Some people cared about the death of Freddie Gray. But the protesters did not. They were there for a few reasons:

-To have a fun time

-To get free stuff

And that is about it. Don't give me the line about how they were oppressed (especially since there were a few white agitators rioting too), they rioted because they thought it was fun. There isn't a larger political point to this other then that people don't respect authority and care more about satisfying their desire for free stuff and violent fun then the damage they are doing to their community. 

Whatever complaints the African American community have about the police, they are really not helping their argument by attacking them and causing chaos on this scale. It's going to turn people against them. And that is unfair because so many people aren't like the rioters. The vast majority of African Americans I have met have been just like anyone else I know. It's just the bottom 10% that are ruining it for everyone. 

So what can be done about race relations and civil unrest in America? I can't answer that question. Not because I don't have ideas, but because expressing those ideas will get me labeled. The only politically correct answer is that the riots are caused by white racism and everything would turn out great if we just had more tolerance. Any other answer to that question will lead to accusations of racism. 

The worst part of this is that we really do need some police/criminal justice reform in this country. Unfortunately, race relations have completely poisoned the well. You can't argue against the police state when people are acting in a way that shows that it might actually be necessary. Even though crime is down across the country, you can't point that out when one of these riots happen. And if you do speak up about reform, both sides of the debate get so bogged down talking about race that nothing can be accomplished. About the only good thing about these riots is that they are a very strong argument against gun control... 

I'll keep track of this story as it develops, but I am hoping that this will be the last post about this particular riot. I'm not optimistic that this story is anywhere close to being finished though.