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So the police received a tip or a lead that people were planning on inciting riots or mass violence, and people then went on to incite violence and mass riots?

So the police received a tip or a lead that people were planning on inciting riots or mass violence, and people then went on to incite violence and mass riots? It sounds like the police response was validated.

akiselev 10y ago
Yeah the police heard that people were planning to incite a riot and decided to stop it in its tracks by..... inciting an actual riot. Great police work validated.
- blackbagboys 10y ago
  How did the police incite a riot? Did they throw stones at themselves, break windows, and overturn cars? Were plain-clothes officers planted in the crowd as provocateurs? Are the rioters automatons with no control over their own actions, who are irresistibly compelled by the presence of police to start rioting? The people responsible for mob violence are the individuals in the mob.
  - soylentcola 10y ago
    Just chiming in again to add: Ultimately, sure, someone can get up in your face and yell at you and try to get you to throw a punch but ultimately, it's your job not to throw that punch. I get that. But in terms of maintaining peace and preventing brawls or riots, you don't want to go out of your way to instigate them. In this case, on the strength of an alleged photo being passed around (again, nobody has a copy of this photo dated before it hit the news), you had riot police shut down transit and corral hundreds of teenagers for hours, unable to leave because you were worried that some teenagers were planning to start trouble. Watching it all unfold was very frustrating at the time. Basically, the riot cops were there before there was a riot and where there likely wouldn't have been one until they rounded up these hundreds of people and kept them there for hours. My point isn't that it's someone else's "fault". It's that digital rumors and overreaction to them can be counterproductive if the goal is to keep the peace and not escalate. Just as in my earlier analogy, if you eventually get fed up at the guy screaming threats in your face and punch him, sure, you were the one who threw the punch. But I don't really want to have the screaming guy on my payroll as a guy hired to prevent fights either. edit: not the most modern or professional blog out there but these guys have a pretty accurate timeline of the whole thing before the national news showed up - https://baltimoreeclipse.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/the-battle-of-mondawmin/ https://baltimoreeclipse.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/the-battle...

akiselev 10y ago

Yeah the police heard that people were planning to incite a riot and decided to stop it in its tracks by..... inciting an actual riot. Great police work validated.

blackbagboys 10y ago
How did the police incite a riot? Did they throw stones at themselves, break windows, and overturn cars? Were plain-clothes officers planted in the crowd as provocateurs? Are the rioters automatons with no control over their own actions, who are irresistibly compelled by the presence of police to start rioting? The people responsible for mob violence are the individuals in the mob.
- soylentcola 10y ago
  Just chiming in again to add: Ultimately, sure, someone can get up in your face and yell at you and try to get you to throw a punch but ultimately, it's your job not to throw that punch. I get that. But in terms of maintaining peace and preventing brawls or riots, you don't want to go out of your way to instigate them. In this case, on the strength of an alleged photo being passed around (again, nobody has a copy of this photo dated before it hit the news), you had riot police shut down transit and corral hundreds of teenagers for hours, unable to leave because you were worried that some teenagers were planning to start trouble. Watching it all unfold was very frustrating at the time. Basically, the riot cops were there before there was a riot and where there likely wouldn't have been one until they rounded up these hundreds of people and kept them there for hours. My point isn't that it's someone else's "fault". It's that digital rumors and overreaction to them can be counterproductive if the goal is to keep the peace and not escalate. Just as in my earlier analogy, if you eventually get fed up at the guy screaming threats in your face and punch him, sure, you were the one who threw the punch. But I don't really want to have the screaming guy on my payroll as a guy hired to prevent fights either. edit: not the most modern or professional blog out there but these guys have a pretty accurate timeline of the whole thing before the national news showed up - https://baltimoreeclipse.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/the-battle-of-mondawmin/ https://baltimoreeclipse.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/the-battle...