The widespread riots, looting, and indiscriminate arson may have subsided in Baltimore, but the violence has not. The vivid yet surreal images of a burning city along with real-time footage of stores being cleaned out with no intervention from law enforcement were set against the chilling rumor that the chaos began with a social media message calling for a citywide “purge” (after the film of the same name). By the early morning hours of April 28, the city lay in ashes [3] and America’s race relations had suffered their most severe setback in years.
Three weeks later and most of America has moved on, believing that the drama is for the large part over, now that charges have been handed down [4] against six officers and the Baltimore skyline is no longer ablaze. The reality on the ground however, is that since the riots, the murder rate in the city has skyrocketed, with 23 homicides in the last 18 days alone.
Here’s The Washington Post [5] with more:
Although riots and protests after the death of Freddie Gray, who was injured in police custody, brought national attention to the city, the slayings have attracted little notice. They come as Baltimore works to recover from the unrest, with a police force demoralized by the arrests of six of its members — three of whom face murder or manslaughter charges in Gray’s death — and under the scrutiny of the Justice Department…
The protests and riots that roiled this city in the aftermath of Gray’s death quieted after the police officers were charged. But even as shops were looted and burned and 3,200 Maryland National Guard troops came to restore order, another type of violence was consuming Baltimore.
From mid-April to mid-May, 31 people were killed, and 39 others were wounded by gunfire. Twice, 10 people were shot on a single day. As of Friday, the deadly burst has pushed the city’s homicide count to 91, 21 above last year at the same time.
In the District, 40 people had been slain as of Friday, not including four people found dead Thursday in cases police said are being investigated as homicides but are awaiting a ruling by the medical examiner.
The spike since the riots has been remarkable...
[6]
...and most of the violence has occurred in West Baltimore...
[7]
* * *
But out of sight, out of mind for the rest of the country and we imagine that just as high crime rates and a generalized sense of despair were ignored before the riots, so too will they be ignored now that the media spectacle has died down ... at least until the next "purge."
We'll close with the following quote from the police commissioner on April 28:
"The citizens are safe. The city is stable"
