Eyewitnesses: The Baltimore Riots Didn't Start the Way You Think

[damnedifIknow]

Baltimore teachers and parents tell a different story from the one you've been reading in the media."


After Baltimore police and a crowd of teens clashed near the Mondawmin Mall in northwest Baltimore on Monday afternoon, news reports described the violence as a riot triggered by kids who had been itching for a fight all day. But in interviews with Mother Jones and other media outlets, teachers and parents maintain that police actions inflamed a tense-but-stable situation."

Meghann Harris, a teacher at a nearby school, described on Facebook what happened:

Police were forcing busses to stop and unload all their passengers. Then, [Frederick Douglass High School] students, in huge herds, were trying to leave on various busses but couldn't catch any because they were all shut down. No kids were yet around except about 20, who looked like they were waiting for police to do something. The cops, on the other hand, were in full riot gear, marching toward any small social clique of students…It looked as if there were hundreds of cops.

The kids were "standing around in groups of 3-4," Harris said in a Facebook message to Mother Jones. "They weren't doing anything. No rock throwing, nothing…The cops started marching toward groups of kids who were just milling about."

*Meg Gibson, another Baltimore teacher, described a similar scene to Gawker: "The riot police were already at the bus stop on the other side of the mall, turning buses that transport the students away, not allowing students to board. They were waiting for the kids.…Those kids were set up, they were treated like criminals before the first brick was thrown." With police unloading busses, and with the nearby metro station shut down, there were few ways for students to clear out."

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/how-baltimore-riots-began-mondawmin-purge

[bananas]

1. k&r thanks nt

[damnedifIknow]

3. You ever have one of those moments

when you know what you want to say but it sounds just too crazy to suggest? I'm there.

[GoneFishin]

16. Well it does seem that the intense focus on the 6 thug cops has turned somewhat toward the riot. So

"mission accomplished" ?

[MynameisBlarney]

19. What?

That the fascist pigs are not even attempting to be at all covert about inciting violence?

[JEB]

2. F'n pigs.

[Suich]

4. Oh, no.

Hope this story makes the msm, but I won't hold my breath.

[daleanime]

32. Please don't.....

We don't need you getting hurt. There's plenty of work to be done.

[frylock]

5. kick

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. I swear, I wonder who gave the heads up to the media to make sure they got coverage.

[hopemountain]

7. let the truth be heard

sounds like setting up the students was exactly their plan. despicable.

[Cracklin Charlie]

8. I am completely unfamiliar with Baltimore.

But when I first heard the reports talking about violence at a shopping mall, I immediately thought of teenagers.

In my city, any mall that is near a high school gets fairly crowded with kids during after school hours. I would think it would be quite threatening to see "hundreds of cops" in full riot gear show up at your after school hangout.

Is that the way that law enforcement is trained to calm an already volatile situation? I would think that technique would only accelerate the inevitable chaos.

[Marie Marie]

9. I really hate to say this but,

suddenly I feel like a tea-bagger because I want to shout "I want my country back!" - because this place has just gotten so F-ed up. The sad thing is that none of these eyewitness accounts surprise me in the least. They set this up, controlled the narrative, made the kids look like "thugs" and the media and much of the country bought it all - hook, line and sinker.

[C Moon]

10. I'd been watching footage from streaming sources and getting info from DU...

I was shocked tonight when I finally turned on CNN (when all the stream feeds were down).
CNN was focused on talking about the Bloods and the Crips.
But I do think CNN's footage in Baltimore was more realistic than what they had in Ferguson.

[truebluegreen]

11. fucking pigs.

[woo me with science]

12. K&R

[eppur_se_muova]

13. BPD has an image problem ... so "rescue" the city from rioting mobs and restore public favor ...

Problem is, first you have to set up the rioting mob. Seems they figured out how to do that.

[damnedifIknow]

14. From these eyewitness accounts it sure does seem that way

[BlancheSplanchnik]

15. jeezus

Of course. Not surprised.

[McCamy Taylor]

17. Police at anti-police protest is like pouring gasoline on a fire.

Suggestion: instead of having police sent to the scene of an otherwise peaceful protest to "watch" and inflame, we should send nuns. Lots of nuns. In full habit. They can stand across the street and watch. I'm betting that the peaceful riot will stay peaceful.

[libdem4life]

18. Why do we need Eywitnesses when we have the MSM? Who believes them?

I have hope that some will at least be interviewed. Probably get cut, however.

[hedgehog]

20. Does anyone know if these were yellow school buses or city

buses accessed with a school board pass?

[LeftyMom]

39. As I understand it there aren't school buses, the kids use public transit.

[bvar22]

21. That is called "caging" (or used to be).

Multiple Police lines pushing civilians into ever smaller spaces until something pops.

[frylock]

22. Kettling..

Kettling (also known as containment or corralling)[1] is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit controlled by the police – or are completely prevented from leaving, with the effect of denying the protesters access to food, water and toilet facilities for an arbitrary period determined by the police forces.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettling

[U4ikLefty]

37. The cops used the kettling tactic a few times during Occupy.

One I recall was when the cops trapped a few hundred Occupy Oakland protestors at a YMCA.

Here's a video:

Here' another:

[truedelphi]

23. Reminds me of how some in Ferguson said it was not folks in the protest who started fires -

but some well controlled agents of some type.

[Enthusiast]

24. Kicked and recommended! I believe every word.

[olddots]

25. it boils down to who do you trust

Mother Jones or Fox News ?

[arthritisR_US]

30. At least Mother Jones admits when they feck up, so I trust

them over the cops any day.

[Glimmer of Hope]

26. Assholes! They are children!

[Maedhros]

27. I assumed something like this had occurred.[n/t]

[Duval]

28. Love hearing it from the guys who

know the truth of the matter! Mother Jones rocks! Thanks, damnedifIknow. I'm putting their article on Facebook.

[roamer65]

29. How do you substantiate your "law enforcement" job?

You instigate riots, then blame the ones you instigated for rioting.

Age old trick, rinse...lather and repeat.

[djean111]

31. The kids were "kettled" - done in England - bottle them up until something boils over.

http://flesl.net/Reading/Society/Kettling/Kettling1/kettling1.php

Kettling is a tactic used by police to control street protesters. This is how it works: police officers wearing riot gear use their bodies to form a “cordon” around a group of protesters. The area inside the cordon is called a “kettle” and the process of enclosing protesters in this way is called “kettling.”

When they are setting up a kettle, the police advance slowly, moving in formation, sometimes banging their shields and grunting to intimidate the “enemy.” Once the protesters are inside a kettle they are forcibly held there. No one is allowed to leave without special permission, and this is not often given. Inside the kettle, the protesters are given nothing to eat or drink, and they are not able to use toilets. Often, after a group of protesters has been kettled, the police tighten the cordon, and push the protesters into a smaller and smaller space until they are packed very closely together; if the protesters push back, the police retaliate by hitting them with their shields, their batons, or their hands. Sometimes police officers go inside the kettle and roughly pull out someone they suspect of having committed a crime — or someone who is shouting, or holding a sign, or taking photographs. Sometimes, over a period of several hours, all or almost all of the people inside a kettle are arrested and taken away by the police. On other occasions, kettled protesters are simply released.

Because they wear riot gear, move in formation, and use shields and batons to fight their “enemy” the specially trained riot police who are used for kettling, look more like soldiers than ordinary police officers. The military look of kettling fits in well with the history of the tactic and with the history of the word itself.

Interesting as fuck, how the police are being trained, isn't it?

[JonLP24]

38. Baltimore activist 'kidnapped' on live TV is in jail despite having hands up 'the whole time'

He was the peaceful activist whose sudden disappearance into a phalanx of riot police on a Baltimore street sparked a viral panic.

Sixteen hours after Joseph Kent, 21, was filmed being snatched by police out of a road in the west side of the city, the Guardian has established his whereabouts.

The Morgan State University student is currently in a large bullpen with other inmates on the second floor of Baltimore central booking, a jail 10 minutes from the city hall.

Kent, who has been charged with one count of breach of a 10pm curfew, wants the public to know he is “well and safe” and is asking Baltimore residents to follow his lead by refraining from violence.

Kent’s sudden disappearance around 11.10pm ET Tuesday was filmed by live CNN cameras, and prompted an outcry on social media. He had his hands in the air when riot police swooped in, and a police humvee-style truck temporarily blocked him from view of the media.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/29/baltimore-protester-kidnapped-on-live-tv-joseph-kent

Certainly appears to be the case in Baltimore especially with the mass arrests without charges & the hundred thousand bond amounts. The second floor had to be cleared out to make room just for people detained at protests.

[WillyT]

33. Huge K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[hertopos]

34. From Baltimore, returned DUer...

Hi,

I retired from DU around 2008. I felt burned out then. I originally joined DU after Al Gore's stolen
election.

Now, I am so pissed at media's reporting of entire thing.
Yes, I was very shocked on Monday. I live in the area called Bolton Hill. This is relatively wealthy area.
However, like many places in Baltimore, within a few blocks this neighborhood transitions into very different world. In fact, within our neighborhood, there is a small strip mall with a few businesses. Those businesses are supported by surrounding area as well. As such, they were rooted on Monday.

My husband saw rooters walk by along the alley way behind our house.

However, from the beginning, we are very puzzled how everything started. I got this 'Purge' intelligence
report from Baltimore police through neighborhood email alert.

On Tuesday, I participated local cleaning group with my daughter whose school was closed. I had a chance to talk to a few people. They were telling me that high school kids were not allowed to go home.
I did not quite understand what was all about then.

By the way, Tuesday was the day of hope. Yes, I was scared on Monday. However, what I felt on Tuesday was very different. I saw so many people came out to visit local businesses. Local coffee shops were crowded. We are not going to let Baltimore slide. People outside don't understand. Baltimore is a kind of place you grow to like. Yes, we have crime problems and other maintenance issues. Many people fed up with current Mayer and police force. However, this is a charm city. So much
characters. I am not going anywhere. We are not going anywhere.

I actually walked to the area closer to the center of Monday riot. People are calm and working hard to
clean the place.

I also felt responsible for not being involved with community support activity in the past. ( Well, I was struggling financially for the last few years like many people. It is not over yet but under control. I should be able to do and want to do something for our community.)

My profession is financial planning. As a professional and a Baltimore resident, I don't think the economy is improving in real sense. After 2008, the homeless population keeps increasing and now it has a permanent tent house under MLK Blvd.

I can tell you one thing. What Mother Jones is describing is the truth. That makes sense. Our police force's brutality got worth under current Mayor.

Look at us. We clean, gather peacefully, protest, and articulate with intelligence. I am so proud of
being a Baltimore residents.

BTW, we do have on subway. We also have a light rail. We use same yellow buses for kids. Don't assume anything without just because you saw it on TV.

Hertopos from Baltimore

[JonLP24]

41. I don't know if you've seen this

but I think you'll appreciate it if you haven't

Thanks for your post, appreciate reading the perspectives from the people the media isn't reporting from. It is why PBS Newshour is the only evening news I watch these days.

[happyslug]

35. Question. Does Baltimore schools use School Buses or Commercial buses?

I bring this up for why would the police stop and unload school buses if they are looking for "gang members" going to the mall? Such stoppage would be clear to see on any video and for that reason alone I do NOT see the police stopping and unloading school buses.

On the other hand I can see the Police stopping transit buses and ordering any teen off the bus for the Police can then claim they were "looking" for such gang members who threaten to do violence. Once unloaded the teens would be "kettled" till the teens broke and started strike at the officers. The police could then claim RIOT when they started to beat in the teens.

After some research I think I found the answer. The schools of the city of Baltimore uses BOTH. Thus in the case which types of buses were being unloaded?

[LeftyMom]

40. City buses. Elementary school students get yellow busses, middle and HS use the city bus.

http://www.baltimorecityschools.org//site/Default.aspx?PageID=24469

It wasn't easy to find on their web presence, but I wanted to confirm that particular detail so I poked around their website until I found it.

[Kip Humphrey]

36. a police-manufactured riot designed to enable the new governor to call in the NG ... shades of

Disaster Capitalism, IMO.

[byronius]

42. My son's in Baltimore. I talked to him tonight -- he's very pissed off at the police methods.

He's marching tomorrow in a protest. Sounds pretty damned intense.

[U4ikLefty]

45. Solidarity to your son!!! Here is a "know your rights" guide from the NLG.

The link: https://www.nlg.org/resource/know-your-rights

[blkmusclmachine]

43. War Games Coming To Your Neighborhood, July to September 2015

http://american3rdposition.com/wp-content/uploads/Jade-Helm-Martial-Law-WW3-Prep-Document-1.pdf

[valerief]

44. All riots (except white boy sports riots) are started by minions of the PTB.

That's how social injustice plays out.