| Author | Message | ||
     Pwnzor |
Anybody else not surprised at what's happening? Shocked, yes. Surprised, no. Absolutely predictable. I wish it weren't, but it is. Which city will be next? Yours? Mine? | ||
| Ulyranger |
Given the space to freely riot, loot and destroy........and they took advantage of it?? Shocking....... | ||
| Hootowl |
That mayor need to be removed from office. As the chief law enforcement officer in the city, it is her job to enforce the law, not make room for people to break it, with predictable results. | ||
| Ltbuell |
..gov'ts behind this as in Ferguson.....trying to rile all of us to incite martial law and to distract us from their other"agendas"....stay focused.....also want to get the "race card" out there too...got to love how those"turds in suits" are really going for it in so many stupid avenues..like i have been saying for a long time.....Washington,D.C. needs a supersized enema and start all over fresh...oh so done with all of them...some are worse than others...still all smell like......  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Its a shame. My main concern is a dear friend of mine is a trauma paramedic in Baltimore county. I haven't been able to get in touch with her yet to make sure she's OK. And I know I'm not the only one with friends in emergency services down there...whose job it is to go get involved in someone else's stupidity. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Here's a link to the local police scanner. Pretty calm right now, but last night it was going kind of nuts. I was picking up some really crazy stuff last night, local HAMs are helping out with comms. | ||
| Dwardo |
My sister works downtown at Johns Hopkins. I called her last night and advised her to stay home. I'm pleased to learn that she did. I have a nurse friend who works the emergency room at Hopkins and she is of course required to be there. I hope she got down there OK. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I do love the video of the mama catching her son in the middle of it wearing a ski mask and then snatching a knot in his a**. Also good to see the Vietnam Vet voicing his opinion on the whole thing. It's good to know not EVERYBODY there is happy to stand aside and let the place burn down. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Good thing Maryland in general, and Baltimore in particular, is such a gun free zone. Otherwise, it might be dangerous there.  My sister lived in the city of Baltimore after she graduated from college, and I would go out and visit her a couple of times a year. She had a few different places, generally gentrified but on the edge of some not so nice neighborhoods. I remember hearing the gunshots at night as I would fall asleep (no joke). I remember her telling me how to get mugged if I was going to go out (make sure you have some money to give them so they don't get violent). I went back there recently for a Lacrosse tournament in the Baltimore suburbs, probably 20 years later. I was thinking to myself it is probably better now, and maybe I was amplifying things that were shocking to me as a naive 20 year old in the big city. After the first day of the tournament, a lot of parents and kids took the train to the inner harbor. I didn't go. Partly because I can't legally carry concealed in MD, and wasn't comfortable in my ability to protect my family in that kind of environment. But down deep I suspected I was being silly. The next morning we got to hear how all these 12 year old kids got to see their first mugging of a defenseless young woman. A gang of thugs entered at one train stop, mugged a defenseless woman on the way to the next stop in front of everyone in the car, then got off at the next stop and walked away. I still don't know how to feel about the whole thing. Ultimately I am glad I didn't put myself and my kids in a dangerous situation. And with the clarity of hindsight, if I could have been legally carrying, I would have been, and if I was there I would have sat quietly ready to act the moment I felt things were going to progress to a rape or dangerous assault, but otherwise let the mugging go forward as the "safest" path for everyone. Then I would have felt like a coward afterwards, even knowing it was probably the best course of action. But who knows what would have happened in the moment. Anyway, you have to wonder how these things would play out in areas where people who follow the law aren't disproportionately disarmed by the law. (Message edited by reepicheep on April 28, 2015) | ||
| Jeepinbueller |
Living in Westminster (about 40 mins outside the city) I have a good number of friends that live in Fells Point and that area, east of most of the shenanigans, like the retirement home construction site fire. It's still scary. I got two calls last night just from friends looking for some comfort while the sirens blasted by in the background. No one knew where the main globs of unruly people where headed, so everyone just hunkered down on their roof decks or upper bedrooms to watch, firearms in tote. They should have implemented the mandatory curfew last night. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Come to think of it, I also remember watching the police helicopter use it's million lumen spotlight to chase around criminals too. Every night. The gun laws for MD were so confusing and complicated I just chose not to carry, even though I could have done so legally for most of the rest of the trip through other less insane states. In a brief reading of the law, I couldn't even tell with good confidence how to take the gun apart and put it in pieces locked up in the car without violating some stupid MD law. It most certainly infringed on my right to keep and bear arms. | ||
| Ratbuell |
...and that's only after you jump through endless hoops in order to BUY a handgun. Think the carry laws are inane? Go shopping for one. Long guns, not so bad - I was cleared for my .308 in a matter of moments. Handguns though? Heh...good freakin luck. And I did finally hear from Sarah - she was off duty last night and FAR away. Went down for the O's game, left as soon as they called it off and never looked back. She's on tonight though...hope most of the madness is done. | ||
| Reepicheep |
How ironic. So maybe next time I go to MD I'll leave the pocket .380 at home, and instead throw a Mosin M38 in the trunk. You know, a nice low capacity non semi automatic non hand gun. Because, you know, it's so much less of a threat than a pocket .380 that would be lucky to hit the broad side of a barn at more than 50 yards. Just ask an SS trooper fresh from Stalingrad. Oh wait, they aren't talking... You can at least count on the anti second amendment folks to be consistently stupid. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
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| Ferris_von_bueller |
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| Ferris_von_bueller |
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| Macbuell |
I think things will probably be a little quieter tonight looking at those pictures. If not, the shit may actually hit the proverbial fan. | ||
| Macbuell |
Looking at soldiers in full combat gear patrolling an American street is kind of surreal. | ||
| Hootowl |
^ Yes. Thanks criminals, for making America look like a third world country run by a military junta. | ||
| Snacktoast |
Some might say that watching idiots destroy their town and the businesses in it is also surreal. I would much rather see the images posted by Ferris than the video footage I saw of Baltimore yesterday. | ||
| Hootowl |
I wonder whether they are being allowed to carry loaded weapons? Seems silly, but in the past, they've not. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
The soldiers had ammo magazines installed on their M4's. Whether or not there is actual ammo in the magazine is unknown. | ||
| Henshao |
But who was Posse Comitatus? Or are police really, really playing up the militarization? | ||
| Xdigitalx |
Why is NJ sending in 150 Troopers if the guard is already there? For the training? Good will gesture? Are they allowed to bring their own (NJ state police registered) weapons or do they have to use existing Baltimore/MD weapons? State lines don't matter? | ||
| Ulyranger |
Henshao, the National Guard is organized and directed by the State and thus answer to their respective Governor. They are deployed regularly for State declared emergencies of all types. Not sure of the exact legality for their ROE in civil unrest, but clearly just their presence has a suppressive effect on evil doers. Is it a bit unnerving to see them deployed on American streets in full kit? You bet, but when the local authorities surrender the field to the mob if I lived there I'd be thankful..........and calling for heads to roll for that local "leadership". The MRAP is clearly a local resource courtesy of DOD excess property. I am not a big fan of militarizing LEAs but if they are going to be tasked with wrapping their arms around a mess like this the big toys may actually be appropriate. The bigger issue in my mind is the "leadership" in this country (local, state & federal) sowing the seeds of unrest and civil/social division........ .....could be a contributing factor to all these riots maybe. As Court has posted many times; we deserve better leadership..... | ||
| Tpoppa |
I hear lots of political talk about 'taking things back' and being over due for some kind revolution. Maybe this is what it looks like. British described colonial revolutionaries as law breakers, criminals, and thugs because they didn't want to submit to the rulers of the day. Colonists thought they weren't treated fairly by gov't and local law enforcement. It all sounds kind of familiar to me. How just a cause may be is all a matter of perspective. | ||
| Tpoppa |
Police are primarily responsible for the state of police relations with the citizens of their jurisdiction. I don't hang it all on the police, but they are the primary organization involved. BPD's tactics (not just this incident) have created much public resentment. Now there is fallout. | ||
| Hootowl |
You don't think criminals have anything to do with their relationship with the police? I suspect if criminals didn't go around shooting cops, cops would be a lot more gentle with criminals when they arrest them. When cops fear for their lives any time they have an interaction with a criminal, I suspect they're not going to be very gentle when they have to subdue someone. Their own lives are quite literally at stake. I blame the criminal. You blame the cop. We'll have to agree to disagree. | ||
| Pwnzor |
FvB can you please scale those pictures down so it doesn't require 2 screens to view them? | ||
| Tpoppa |
You don't think criminals have anything to do with their relationship with the police? They do. But criminals aren't an organization with specific policies and rules of engagement. Somehow, police in other 1st world nations are able to do their jobs with a MUCH, MUCH lower occurrence of citizens dying. American law enforcement should be the standard. Today it isn't. (Message edited by tpoppa on April 29, 2015) |
