MONDAY, APRIL 27 This riotously American week in America kicked off in Baltimore, where today brought the funeral for Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old African American man who was arrested after running away from police in a high-crime area while carrying a knife on his person, and who wound up dead from a spinal-cord injury sustained after his aforementioned run and before his arrival at the police station. “At Gray’s funeral, speaker after speaker before the crowd packing the 2,500-seat New Shiloh Baptist Church said the world was watching to see if justice would be done for Gray,” reported Reuters. Hours after the funeral, the watching world got a serious show, as rioters rioted, looters looted, and the chronically traumatized Baltimore burned, with Maryland governor Larry Hogan declaring a state of emergency and the nation-guarding National Guard brought in to restore order. By the time police pepper-sprayed the situation into submission for the night, 254 people had been arrested, 98 police officers had been injured, and the whole thing escalated into an event of the magnitude that’ll be remembered through iconic images and historical impact. So thanks to Mother Jones for showcasing the stories of eyewitnesses, who offered details on the prickly beginnings of the henceforth monolithic Baltimore Riots…
