What if they held a race riot and the media stayed away? At the very least, we would be spared the nauseating spectacle of sycophantic reporters fawning on opportunistic thieves, as was repeated yet again during the latest outbreak of anti-police violence in Baltimore. More important, the vandals would lose a bounty as valuable as their purloined booty: notoriety and legitimacy.
The Baltimore riots of April 25 and 27 were held in the name of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old drug dealer with a lengthy arrest record who died from a spinal injury a week after being transported in a Baltimore police van. Gray had taken off running after making eye contact with an officer on bike patrol in a high-crime area; police reportedly claim he was involved in illegal activity. After a chase, he surrendered and was cuffed, searched, and arrested for possession of an illegal knife. According to the Baltimore prosecutor, he asked for an asthma inhaler but was not given one; he was not secured by a seatbelt while being transported in the police van, and though the officer driving the van repeatedly checked up on Gray, the officer did not provide requested medical assistance. It was during this time, according to the prosecutor, that he suffered his ultimately fatal spine injury.
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