Riots and Peaceful Protests

 Ever since Monday, Baltimore has been on the news, social media, talk show radio, and in newspaper.  It all started when the funeral of Freddie Gray ended that day. Gray died on April 19^th, a week after suffering spinal injuries during his arrest. There was a plan referred to as the “purge” that circulated on social media among school-aged people of Baltimore. When school was let out, police were equipped with full riot gear because of this plan. Police shut down the local subway stop, buses, and did not allow the after-school crowd to disperse. The police reported juveniles began throwing bottles and bricks. What these people are doing is not right, standing up and vandalizing police officers is not justice. They are tearing neighborhoods to shreds while the people of the neighborhoods go out and cleaning up the rioters mess. That is not a way to protest, that is a way to make the situation even worse and put people’s lives at stake. There are two different protesters in Baltimore, the peaceful ones and the ones that are rioting. The media is showing all the bad going on in Baltimore, that is all the riots. On the other side, there are peaceful protesters that do not condone destruction and violence. Many of these peaceful protesters made human barricades between the civilians and police. In my opinion I think that these people really have the power to stand up for what they believe in, they are changing peoples’ ways of thinking and it truly is a social movement. Although everything has calmed down in Baltimore, the city is not going to be the same for a very long time. A state of emergency remains in place, 10 p.m. remains all week, national guards roam the streets, and the Orioles are playing their game in an empty stadium. Not only has this been happening in Baltimore but also in Boston and Chicago. In Chicago, protesters gathered on the corner of 55^th and Cottage Grove in Hyde Park after two hours of marching following a rally. Organizers of the rally say they want to show support for the protesters in Baltimore and show awareness for the incidents in Chicago. Protesters say that just want the police and government to know that they are serious, hurt, and angry about everything that has been going on. Protesters have been gathering in front of Boston Police Headquarters to protest the death of Freddie Gray and the Baltimore protests. The leaders of the protest say that do not want to get in any confrontations with the police, they just want to show that the people in Baltimore are not alone. Protesters believe that Boston will not be like Baltimore. Awareness of everything that has been happening in Baltimore has erupted throughout the United States. It is amazing to see how many people want to stand up and protest for what they believe in. Although many people in Baltimore did not have the best way to protest and civilians have to pay the price.

First image: http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/kabc/images/cms/686628_1280x720.jpg

Second Image:http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/2015-04/28/10/enhanced/webdr15/enhanced-12814-1430232272-1.jpg

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-riots/

http://abc7chicago.com/news/chicago-leaders-activists-respond-to-baltimore-riots/684891/