News:
The Roots of Baltimore’s Riot
Link:
http://time.com/3841451/the-roots-of-baltimores-riot/
Date:
April 30, 2015
This
week, Baltimore, the most important city in the state of Maryland and just under
30 miles away from the US capital, was the epicenter of the most violent riot
registered in the country in over a decade. On Tuesday morning, when the smoke
finally cleared, 145 cars appeared to be burnt, there were several shops
reduced to rubble, 15 policemen seriously injured and at least 300 people under
arrest for their involvement in the riots.[1]
There
were many who made the comparison between the events of that night and April
1968, when the city was shaken by the uproar that followed the assassination of
Martin Luther King.[2] The
fuse that lit the powder keg was the funeral of Freddie Gray last Monday, an
African-American of 25 years of age who died a week after being arrested by
police on acts that were denounced as another case of police violence against
black people.
While
authorities blamed the murder on six policemen, after reviewing captured images
of the arrest and testimonies of spectators who witnessed Gray complaining and
expressing discomfort.
With
no reason known at the moment, Gray tried to escape after making eye contact
with a group of policemen patrolling the area. A block later was captured by law
officers, who submitted him to the force. When he arrived at the hospital about
an hour later, he had fractured three vertebrae and a broken larynx. According
to the coroner's report, those were the wounds that caused his death[3].
By
themselves, the facts were already quite rough. But a wave of cases during the last
year have piled together on what has generated deep tension between African Americans
and the police force. In August last year, Ferguson (Missouri) starred in
protests similar to the ones this week after a policeman killed Michael Brown,
an African-American of 18 who appeared unarmed. Again in December, thousands of
people in New York and several cities took to the streets to protest the discharge
of a policeman who suffocated another African American who was resisting.
We
must unveil the cases and reason whether or not the similarities of the excessive
force taken by police have been mere coincidence. We live in a country were
freedoms are offered to the ones who want to take advantage. It might seem
irrational at first, but if real delinquents were treated softly and politely, would
they reason and cooperate? …Setting aside the previously mentioned cases, the
law enforcement has to think nationwide to maintain safety among our
neighborhoods and at the same time ensure that their actions don’t exceed the
authority tied to their profession. We know a person who does wrong is no less
human than a person who does right. In this case, two wrongs don’t make one right.
Perhaps, the training of officers must be re-enforced with situational
awareness as to diminish the wrongful consequences.
[1] Blake, J., & Martinez, M. (2015, April 30). Baltimore riots -
CNN.com. Retrieved May 3, 2015, from
http://edition.cnn.com/specials/baltimore-riots
[2] 1968: Martin Luther King shot dead. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2015,
from http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/4/newsid_2453000/2453987.stm
[3] Jalabi, R. (2015, May 3). Freddie Gray: Legal volunteers among those
arrested after defying Baltimore curfew. Retrieved May 3, 2015, from
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/03/freddie-gray-legal-volunteers-arrested-after-defying-baltimore-curfew
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