Charred cars and buildings. Hospitalized police officers. Looted and damaged businesses. No school, because it might not be safe for children to go outside.
That was the stark reality Tuesday after a night of riots, fires and heartbreak in Baltimore, parts of which looked more like a war zone than a place where people live, work and play.
"Too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs who -- in a very senseless way -- are trying to tear down what so many have fought for," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.
At least 15 officers were wounded in the unrest, six of them seriously, the city's police commissioner said. Getting them healthier is the first goal. Another is making sure that they're not joined in local hospitals by others -- be they more law enforcement officers or civilians -- in further unrest.
There were nearly 200 arrests, 144 vehicle fires and 15 structure fires in Baltimore during the unrest that began Monday, said Howard Libit, the city's director of strategic planning and policy.
More than 500 National Guard members are in Baltimore on Tuesday morning with "hundreds more on the way," the Maryland National Guard reports.
The finger pointing and blame has already started with conservatives mostly blaming the mayor and liberals talking about police injustice and a community that feels desperate and enraged over the death, and the lack of information about the death, of Freddie Gray.
The riots actually erupted on the day that newly confirmed AG Loretta Lynch was sworn in, which means she has to hit the ground running it seems.
Her first response to the violence will of course be closely scrutinized by her conservative detractors:
Lynch met Monday evening with President Barack Obama to discuss the riots in Baltimore. The meeting was not called specifically as a result of the situation in Baltimore, the White House said, but Lynch told Obama she'd be monitoring the situation there.
"As our investigative process continues, I strongly urge every member of the Baltimore community to adhere to the principles of nonviolence," Lynch said in a statement. "In the days ahead, I intend to work with leaders throughout Baltimore to ensure that we can protect the security and civil rights of all residents. And I will bring the full resources of the Department of Justice to bear in protecting those under threat, investigating wrongdoing, and securing an end to violence."
Today the President had this to say:
"There's no excuse for the kind of violence that we saw yesterday. It is counterproductive," Obama said at a press conference from the White House. "When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they're not protesting. They're not making a statement. They're stealing. When they burn down a building, they're committing arson. And they're destroying and undermining businesses and opportunities in their own communities. That robs jobs and opportunity from people in that area."
My feeling at this point is if the investigation into the death of Freddy Gray does not end with indictments of at least some police officers, that we will see more violence like this in the near future.
I think MLK said it best.
