Brutalized in Baltimore
When the Baltimore protests escalated to looting and rioting, condemnations were swift. For many politicians and commentators, the issue was clear: while people have a right to protest the April 19 death of Freddie Gray from injuries sustained in police custody, there’s no excuse for arson and brick throwing.
This questioning of demonstrators’ tactics served mostly to distract attention from the city’s long-standing pattern of police violence and the deep inequalities that have denied many African Americans economic and educational opportunity. “Peace, peace” cry the authorities—but there is no peace in West Baltimore, where the people have been brutalized since long before a young black man decided to pick up a brick.
In 2014, the Baltimore Sun found that in four years the city had paid damages or settlements in 102 police brutality lawsuits. One victim was an elderly woman whose bones were broken when an officer roughed her up for refusing a warrantless search after her grandson was shot. Another was a pregnant woman thrown to the ground after she witnessed an assault and urged officers to pursue the perpetrators. The total bill to taxpayers: $5.7 million. Imagine what good the city could do with that money if it didn’t have to spend it compensating for the bad.
