Mayor denies she condoned violence
Political jabs fly in aftermath of riot
Even as officials struggle to ensure a return to calm after a night of rioting in Baltimore, the political sparring has already begun.
Did the city move too slowly in seeking help to keep the peace? In comments she made after the death of Freddie Gray, did Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake open the door for protests to turn violent?
Gray, 25, was arrested April 12 in a section of the city where police are viewed with suspicion. He was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and placed in a police van. The van stopped at one point, and he was taken out and put in leg irons and placed back in the van, according to city police.
Gray’s spine was severed while he was in custody. He slipped into a coma and died a week later.
Pol ice Commissioner Anthony Batts has conceded that Gray should have been buckled into a seat belt and that he should have received medical care earlier. Whether any officer will be charged with a crime depends on the investigation, scheduled to be completed by Friday.
The initial demonstrations after Gray’s death of were peaceful and small. City officials said they were able to handle protests, and Rawlings-Blake, who attended Gray’s funeral Monday, praised the early protesters for acting calmly. She cited Baltimore’s history of peaceful demonstrations.
Then over the weekend, violence broke out at a rally that led to 35 arrests and injury of six police officers. Rawlings- Blake explained her position after the arrests and said the city hoped to cope with the growing unrest.
“I’ve made it very clear that I work with the police, and instructed them to do everything that they could to make sure that the protesters could exercise their right to free speech,” she told reporters. “It’s a very delicate balancing act, because while we tried to make sure they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on, we gave those who wished to destroy space to do that, as well.”
Critics seized on the last part of the quote to argue that the mayor had, in effect, given permission for the protests to grow. She denied that accusation. “The very blatant mischaracterization of my words was not helpful today,” RawlingsBlake told one reporter after the violence escalated Monday after Gray’s funeral.
“I was asked a question about the property damage that was done. In answering that question, I made it very clear that we balance a very fine line between giving peaceful protesters a space to protest,” she said. “What I said is, in doing so, people can hijack that and use that space for bad. I did not say that we were accepting of that. I did not say that we were passive to it. I was just explaining how property damage can happen during a peaceful protest.
“It is very unfortunate that members of your industry decided to mischaracterize my words and try to use it as a way to say that we were inciting violence.”