Words mean what they say, otherwise they mean nothing at all.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said: “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 were able to exercise their right to free speech. It’s a very delicate balancing act, because, while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on, we also [as a result] gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well. And we worked very hard to keep that balance and to put ourselves in the best position to deescalate, and that’s what you saw.”
The Official Explanation of her remarks was given yesterday by Howard Libit, Director of Strategic Planning and Policy. He issued the following statement regarding Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s comments on the rights of protesters:
“What she is saying within this statement was that there was an effort to give the peaceful demonstrators room to conduct their peaceful protests on Saturday. Unfortunately, as a result of providing the peaceful demonstrators with the space to share their message, that also meant that those seeking to incite violence also had the space to operate. The police sought to balance the rights of the peaceful demonstrators against the need to step in against those who were seeking to create violence.
The mayor is not saying that she asked police to give space to people who sought to create violence. Any suggestion otherwise would be a misinterpretation of her statement.”
Essentially the Baltimore police didn’t do what the police are supposed to do which is to arrest people who break the law. If someone throws a rock, they should be arrested. The second person who throws a rock should be arrested too, and so on until all of the people who threw a rock at the police are arrested. That’s what New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said.
What Rawlings-Blake said or did wasn’t that. The police backed off. The police failed to arrest those throwing rocks. To say that the police were in too much danger is foolish. the police have weapons; are trained to use them and to use them accurately. If people resist arrest they are in danger of being shot except in Baltimore where they kept on throwing rocks at the police. Next they broke into stores and stole things. they they set fires to some buildings. All because they were not arrested when they started to throw rocks at the police. rawlings-Blake either ordered that or failed to order the police to do what the police are supposed to do. the police are not there to keep criminals safe. they are there to arrest criminals and the Baltimore police failed to do that basic activity. The police report to the mayor. All that is why Rawlings-Blake is inept.
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