Flying projectiles were replaced with interlocked arms. Chants of "Fuck the police" were
replaced with "One Love." Young angry men with masks were replaced by
people of all ages with a peaceful purpose.
And most of all, despair was replaced with hope. And then 10 O'clock came.
An opportunity was missed last night in Baltimore,
Maryland. That opportunity was missed in
order to enforce an arbitrary, artificial curfew which while originally imposed
with good intentions, should have been lifted based on the situation on the
ground. If Monday was a disgrace, and it
certainly was, by any measure, Tuesday was a revelation. The good citizens of Baltimore took back
"Charm City" without intervention from the police or
politicians. The public had had
enough. Enough of the violence, enough
of the rioting, enough of the looting, enough of ignorance that was undermining the message that needed to come from the death of Freddie Gray. The good people of the City of Baltimore came out in droves preventing a
repeat of the ugliness that occurred on Monday.
Many of the media were encouraged, many of those watching from afar were encouraged. And then the lines
of police moved forward and smoke bombs were released.
