Most of this week we've been show the criminal acts of a bunch of hoods in Baltimore throwing bricks, burning and looting businesses and basically acting like a bunch of fools - the talking heads like to call them "thugs," but let's face it they're acting like antisocial idiots.
All because a black suspect died of some kind of injuries somehow sustained while in Baltimore Police Department custody. Nobody knows how he got those injuries - nobody. Even the black talking heads being interviewed will admit to that. Yet, the rock-and-bottle-throwing idiots in the streets and the rabble rousers that are usually behind them egging 'em on are all convinced that Freddie Gray was chased down and killed 1) for no reason other than 2) he was black and in custody of 3) "racist" cops.
Really? Seriously? Well, let's take that one by one, shall we? Firstly, Freddie Gray was not a saint. He had at least 18 arrests since 2007. ( Freddie Gray's 18 arrests *) Not all of them resulted in convictions because...wait for it...he plea bargained some to get reduced sentences on others.* But the point is, he was not the innocent, upstanding member of the Baltimore community he's been made out to be.
Secondly, he was pursued because he made eye contact with the cops - who likely knew him as a perpetrator from working the projects where he was arrested - and he started running away. NEWS FLASH, folks; you act suspicious like that to a cop and that's probable cause enough to pursue you and detain you. Look it up. The US Supreme Court has upheld this as reasonable probable cause many times.
In other words, he was NOT profiled. The BPD officers did NOT just randomly decide to pursue him because he was black and they were bored or felt like beating on a black man.
He was a known criminal. He was in a high crime area. He acted suspiciously and the cops chased him. Big surprise!
And if he struggled/fought with officers once they apprehended him, he likely got roughed up. Big surprise!
Is that license to kill the man? No. But, remember; nobody knows how he got the injuries that killed him. keeping these contexts in mind of his arrest.
But protesters are sure he died at the hands of racist cops.
Well, here's the big rub; the population of Baltimore is 64%+ black. ***** The BPD is almost 50 percent black.*** It’s run by a black commissioner (Anthony W. Batts****) and eight of the 15 Baltimore City Council members (53%) are black** and they all answer to a black mayor (Stephanie Rawlings-Blake).
So..."riddle me this, Batman.... In a city where blacks are the MAJority, with a black police commissioner (chief), with a city council that has a black MAJority and a black mayor...just how can there be systematic racism - against blacks - in that city and police department as the protesters allege?
And how can it be a foregone conclusion that these alleged racist policies implemented by allegedly racist cops killed Freddie Gray when we still don't know? I wish these protesters would explain this - calmly and rationally to me.
But, honestly I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.
* Cleary, T. (27 April, 2015) Freddie Gray arrest record, criminal history and rap sheet, Retrieved 29 April, 2015 from http://heavy.com/news/2015/04/freddie-gray-arrest-record-criminal-history-rap-sheet-why-was-freddie-gray-arrested/
**Per http://www.baltimorecitycouncil.com/members.htm they are Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, Brandon Scott (Dist. 2), Sharon Green Middleton (Dist. 6), Nick Mosby (Dist. 7), Helen Holton (Dist. 8), William "Pete" Welch (Dist 9), Carl Stokes (Dist. 12), Warren Branch (Dist. 13).
***Walsh, M. (28 April, 2015) Baltimore 'protesters,' you are not fighting injustice. You are the injustice. The Blaze. Retrieved 29 April, 2015 from http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/baltimore-protesters-you-are-not-fighting-injustice-you-are-the-injustice/
****http://www.baltimorepolice.org/police-commissioner
*****Wikipedia (27 April, 2015) Ethic groups in Baltimore. Retrieved 29 April, 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_Baltimore
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