Chaos in Baltimore as looting and rioting break out. Yahoo/AP

A looter walks by burning police vehicles. Yahoo/AP.

Chaos, rioting, and looting breaks out in Baltimore after the funeral of Freddie Gray. Yahoo.AP. Rioters torched a pharmacy and police vehicles and threw bricks and garbage at the police. The governor has declared a state of emergency. At least 15 police officers were hurt and dozens of protesters were arrested. Freddie Gray died after being injured in police custody under mysterious circumstances. The rioters even tried to sabotage the fire department as they tried to put out the fires. The family of Freddie Gray have condemned the riots. Police have received credible threats of violence as three violent gangs have teamed up to attack the police.    

My Comment:

Looks like we are falling into a pattern here. Some African American criminal (Gray had an extensive criminal record) gets into a conflict with a police officer. He ends up dead because it is a really bad idea to get in a fight with the police. Despite that fact that the victim was not a good person, the African American community rallies around them, due to both the traditional media and the social media covering the incident far out of propitiation to its actual importance. At first the protests are peaceful but eventually some of the protesters turn to rioting and looting, thus ending any credibility the peaceful protesters had.

Its a shame in this case because it looks like the police actually screwed up this time. Baltimore has a notoriously corrupt police force, which is to be expected because the entire city is corrupt. I do doubt the claims that Gray was beaten or attacked but it seems clear that he should have gotten medical attention. I don't think his injuries were intentional though. 

Still, even if this case seems more justified then the rest, I still don't understand protesting for a criminal. If someone I knew was killed by the cops when they were running away, I might be upset. But I wouldn't protest for them. Not just because I dislike protests in general but I have very little sympathy for people that cause their own deaths. One thing I learned very early is that it is a very bad idea to pick a fight with someone that has the power to destroy you. And every single one of these cases involve someone either fighting or fleeing from the police. Getting killed because you fought or fled from the police may or might not be justified but it isn't unexpected. 

It's pretty pathetic that this story hasn't got more attention until now. And by that I mean the rioting and looting, not the death of Freddy Gray. The rioting started on Saturday but received very little coverage. Why? Because pretty much every journalist in the country was at the White House correspondence dinner and couldn't be bothered to cover the fact that Baltimore was burning just a few miles away. 

The reports that came out of Oriole Park were horrifying. The patrons of the bars near the stadium were attacked and the business were damaged as well. The people at the stadium were told that they couldn't leave. The game went into extra innings but if it hadn't, thousands of people would have been trapped inside because of the riots. 

So what happens now? More rioting, more attacks on the police and more violence. The people are mad and outside instigators are coming in to cause more problems. The deployment of the national guard may help but at this point it might be to late.