In April, during the mass rioting, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told reporters that city officials gave the violent Freddie Gray protesters “space” to destroy property.
A Freddie Gray protester hurls a guard rail through a store window last night in Baltimore.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake:
“While we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on. We also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well. And we work very hard to keep that balance and to put ourselves in the best position to deescalate, and that’s what you saw.”
Here’s the video:
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake also said, “Let them loot, it’ only property.”
This decision resulted in:
** At least 61 buildings were torched.
** Over 144 vehicles were torched.
** 350 businesses were damaged
** And 113 police officers were injured.
This week Baltimore leaders admitted they gave the stand down order to police during the riots.
Conservative Treehouse has the audio.
The Baltimore Sun reported:
Baltimore police commanders acknowledge that they ordered officers not to engage rioters multiple times on the day of Freddie Gray‘s funeral but said they did so to protect officers and citizens as they prioritized life over property.
In an interview with The Baltimore Sun, police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts and six top commanders who directed deployments on April 27 denied that they gave blanket orders to do nothing as rioters looted, raided businesses and even attacked officers with impunity.