Cause & Effect: Do Not Paint Baltimore Rioters With A Broad Brush

The City of Baltimore since Monday has been presented as a city in chaos. Images of violence shown on the television screens. The youth of the entire city being labeled thugs and misfits. Following the funeral of Freddie Gray, Baltimore erupted as police and protesters clashed in what became a series of riots. The narrative has shifted, like it always seems to do. The photos and videos of the people cleaning up their city and stopping violence is regulated to social media only.

The mother who found her son dressed in ninja style clothing and got him out the street is being applauded. She should be, what gets lost is the people who are committing the acts of violence all do not have parents that care enough to do that. Couple that lack of foundation with the fact they are reminded about the systematic abuse that frequently targets people of color. So yeah…they are very pissed off and want to tear things up. Those are the extremist however, and they are the ones receiving all the national attention. Showing the images of black children behaving violently allowing white America to have their collective fingers pointing at them passing judgement.

While 95 percent of the coverage is focused on the 100 odd people causing the riots, there were 10,000 who would not give them cameras the satisfaction of seeing them act violently. People of all races, religious beliefs, ages and genders showed their anger in the way that they are ‘told to’. What happened? Passed by like insects as if there was nothing to see and instead focused on the children throwing rocks and anyone using this as an opportunity to steal.

It is a continuous cycle that is so frustrating and makes you almost want to lose hope. What happened to Freddie Gray will be ignored, the fact he died in police custody due to spinal injuries was just their introduction or preface. Their ‘story’ is never THE story. The truth and ongoing oppression continues to be ignored by them, because they need that. For every Freddie Gray they will and ,sadly, can count on someone to act in a less than desirable fashion.

A former police officer wrote the following on her facebook page:

I am a Former Police Officer who was fired for STOPPING police brutality and trying to expose an Officer who was beating on a handcuffed suspect. He was promoted and continued his brutality, retiring with three open cases including a case where he choked a Police Officer who wanted to be transferred out of his platoon, a fight with an NFTA Police Officer and the abuse of a Police Officers son in which he is now Federally indicted along with two other Officers who shot a teen with a BB Gun. One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. No one listened to me and I told the truth.

Is it because 1 arrest = many jobs? Judges, Lawyers, Police, Probation, Parole, Correction Officers and many more jobs where the ultimate goal is to fill prisons. It’s called “Collars for Dollars”. There is a system setup and the goods and services are in the form of human bodies dead or alive.

Citizens have been arrested for petty crimes that have result in death. We have seen, on video, an Officer shooting a gun and killing a subdued suspect claiming he thought he was reaching for a taser, although there was not a reason that he should have pulled a taser. In that same arrest an Officer has his knee on the suspects head and says, “fuck your breath”, as the man dies. The shooter is then given permission to go on vacation! Really??? If the tables were turned and the suspect shot the cop killing him claiming it was a mistake and the judge let him go on vacation…..nevermind…….it never would happened that way.

We watched as Officer Slager tampered with a crime scene and planted evidence next to the body of a man he had just shot in the back about 6 times because the man ran from him. The media tells the story as if the Police Officers are regular citizens and don’t have special training to control the different situations and use the proper use of force.

I feel that the Mayors of the various cities should take control of their Police Departments by “backing up” the “good” Police Officers if they expose “bad” Police Officers and getting an independent review board to review citizen complaints and the complaints of Officers who want to expose “bad apples”. If the bad Officers are allowed to continue the brutality and murder of citizens with no punishment then we will continue to see the results of frustrated citizens as we have seen in various cities like Ferguson and now in Baltimore. The good officers are going to be caught in the crossfire.

The 1st training that an Officer needs is “home training”. They must follow the golden rule and “treat others as they want to be treated” When common sense is not so common, we see what we are seeing right now.

We can not fall for the same tricks over and over, do not watch the filth that gets reported by bigots and people with agendas. Use the internet and research what is really happening. There is always going to be violence somewhere, especially when emotions are running high. It is up to you as the consumer as to what you watch and believe. This is not a black only issue, evident in the 10,000 multicultural march that never was televised. But CNN and Fox News of the world are going to continue using that big black brush on their canvas to get their ratings and make their money.

“The revolution will not be televised”-Gil Scott-Heron

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