Baltimore Bleeds 6/9/17 (151)

Interesting choice of tunes, AC. A little gloomy for a Friday morning, but what the hell :)

Baltimore Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby: Resign Your Office
6/23/16

Caesar Goodson, the Baltimore police officer who drove the van in which Freddie Gray was injured and subsequently died, was acquitted Thursday on seven felony counts and one misdemeanor. Add this to Officer Edward Nero’s acquittal on all counts a couple of weeks ago, and William Porter’s case ending in a hung jury last December and Mosby has more than a little egg on her face. Goodson’s case was the lynchpin of the misguided and politically-motivated prosecution of the six officers, and his acquittal throws Mosby’s effort in to complete disarray.

Judge Barry Williams, who has presided over each of the three cases tried so far, had no kind words for the prosecution of these officers as he rendered his not-guilty decision on Thursday. And to say that he offered no encouragement for a different result in the next three cases to come before him, and retrial of the hung jury case, would be an understatement. (Full disclosure: The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, of which I am chairman, is supporting the Baltimore officers financially).

[link to www.breitbart.com]

Enough Is Enough in Baltimore
6/24/16

As the third prosecution of the Baltimore Six collapsed in Judge Williams’ court on Thursday, like the two before it, what is transparent is that Mosby did what she was accused of a year ago – rushed to judgment. Worse, her rush also bore the stamp of grand jury indictments of six Baltimore officers, indictments that have been, for them and their families, life-changing. And the judge who has heard and processed every bit of testimony and other evidence in the cases reaching trial so far has, brick by crumbling brick, systematically dismantled the hollow cases brought by Mosby’s henchmen.

So resounding has been her defeat that one must ask how and why these charges could ever have been brought. Yesterday, the prosecution’s “rough ride” theory that would have sent Caesar Goodson to jail for three decades turned into little more than wisps of smoke. The steely-eyed, hard-charging prosecutor who welcomed a Vogue magazine profile and sat onstage with Prince, turns out to be Baltimore’s Icarus – her soaring ego failing to identify her shortcomings – including her unwillingness to recognize the presence or absence of basic facts.

When prosecutors choose to ignore the facts and bring politically-motivated charges regardless, they risk wrongful convictions or, as in Baltimore, failure. They also undermine the concepts of due process and the rule of law, rather than advancing them. The citizens of Baltimore are ill-served when their chief prosecutor casts aside the expectations of her oath of office in order to sacrifice six police officers on the public altar.

[link to www.cnsnews.com]

Baltimore rapper Lor Scoota shot and killed in Northeast Baltimore
6/26/16

Tyriece Travon Watson, widely known as Baltimore rapper Lor Scoota, was shot and killed Saturday night in the Lauraville area, police said.

Watson, 23, of the 1900 block of Clifton Avenue, suffered from at least one gunshot wound and was transported to a nearby hospital. Police announced his death at 8:30 p.m.

Police said they responded to the shooting at Harford and Moravia roads shortly before 7 p.m. and that several witnesses had seen Watson driving eastbound on Harford Road when a man wearing a white bandanna stepped into the street and shot him.

Homicide detectives are investigating, police said.

[link to www.baltimoresun.com]

-----
A rapper that promotes the gang life in his lyrics gunned down by someone from the same culture, yet the nitwits still celebrate the rapper's life as a 'poor victim'. Rather than look at it like it is, a vicious repetitive cycle, they completely confuse the issue and glorify one of the main problems.

Baltimore led nation last year in homicide increase
6/25/16

Baltimore had the highest increase in homicides in the nation last year, a criminologist commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice reported, with more than twice as many extra killings as the three cities that tied for second.

The city suffered 127 more homicides in 2015 than in the previous year, Richard Rosenfeld wrote in "Documenting and Explaining the 2015 Homicide Rise: Research Directions," released this month by the Justice Department.

Chicago, Houston and Milwaukee came in second with 61 more killings. Cleveland and Washington had 57 more.

[link to www.baltimoresun.com]

Clues Sought In Killing of Rising Baltimore Rapper ‘Lor Scoota’
6/27/16

Despite a record number of tips, police have not arrested the man who gunned down up-and-coming young rapper Tyriece Watson, known as “Lor Scoota.”

[link to baltimore.cbslocal.com]

-----

Baltimore Rapper Shot to Death After Hosting ‘Pray for Peace’ Charity Basketball Game
6/27/16

A Baltimore rapper was shot and killed in what police say was a “targeted” attack shortly after hosting a charity basketball game that was organized to “pray for peace” in the violence-plagued streets.

[link to www.breitbart.com]

----

The dead man's words speak for themselves.
Pray for Peace? Charity? Funny, he never 'rapped' about those topics.

Ha right!!

DeRay Mckesson appointed to city school leadership position
6/28/16

BALTIMORE —A well-known activist and former candidate for mayor of Baltimore has been appointed interim head of human capital at Baltimore City Public Schools.
***
Mckesson is an activist with the Black Lives Matter movement.

[link to www.wbaltv.com]

----

Can't make this shit up. And who would want to?
Another less than brilliant, but highly suspect, move by the City.

Wow I have seen it all now..What's next

I've learned not to ask that. It's never good :)

Hundreds of family, community members pay respects to slain Baltimore rapper Lor Scoota
6/30/16

Watson's popular songs played over the sound system, she added.

Watson's family requested that members of the news media not enter the funeral home. Just before 5 p.m., the family ended the public viewing after a picture from inside was circulated online.

A few people close to Watson spoke briefly to members of the media outside the funeral home.

"We came from nothing," said his 27-year-old godsister Domonique Scott. "But he grew up and blessed this city."

[link to www.baltimoresun.com]

----
His popular songs? Are you fucking kidding me? "Bird Flu"? Has anyone other than braindead zombie assholes heard this guy's 'music'? They want to celebrate this?
The cycle of mindlessness continues.

Lor Scoota’s Murder and the ‘Imperfect Route’
6/29/16

And lest you think Scoota was maybe some kind of lovable outlaw, some latter-day Billy the Kid or something we kindly invite you to pull your head out of your ass. Billy the Kid was certainly an awful person to be around, just like our neighbors have been and just like we imagine Scoota himself probably was. He wasn’t selling your cousin heroin or beating up your sister or waving his gun at you, but if it had been you you might feel differently about it, no?

But in death as in life a lot of otherwise sensible people do seem to think Scoota was some kind of lovable outlaw. One of them is Nick Mosby.

Thirteen months ago in the aftermath of the riots Nick Mosby brought Scoota along with fellow street rapper Young Moose on a speaking tour of Baltimore High schools. In the resulting news article Mosby, a fool, is quoted as saying these guys aren’t role models but the fact is that they have been negative role models since the moment they broke out. Giving them a dais and the legitimacy of appearing with a sitting councilman is presenting them as a role model, whether you want to admit it on the record or not. Mosby asked these guys where they saw themselves in 5-10 years. We said at the time-to Mosby, on Twitter- that was laughable, and that in 5-10 years they would either be dead or in jail. He didn’t see it that way. One year later Scoota is dead and Young Moose is in jail. Another panelist, dirt bike rider Chino Braxton, was shot twice and survived and Mosby is (thankfully) on his way out of office. Young Moose’s brother, also, was recently murdered by the way.

The message that Chino Braxton has for kids now, namely Get the Fuck out of Baltimore, is one we can agree with.

[link to thebaltimorechop.com]


---
Sounds like he's competing with his prosecutor wife for Baltimore's asshole of the year award.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s Receiving Death Threats
7/1/16

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who charged six police officers in connection with Freddie Gray’s death, has had to increase her security detail after she reportedly received hate mail and threats at her office.

“Our office has received, and she has personally received, a number of offensive and extremely disturbing, racist, sexist hate mail and even death threats,” Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Rochelle Ritchie told WBAL.

[link to www.theroot.com (secure)]
----
They should have no problem tracking down those who made them, right?
Or were they more or less 'generated' to create a wave of sympathy for this idiot prosecutor who is now in the sight of multiple lawsuits?
Just sayin'.

Baltimore plans gunshot detection system to aid investigations
7/1/16

City officials plan to install a gunfire detection system to help Baltimore police pinpoint where shootings are happening, technology that a previous police commissioner once called a "horrible, horrible failure."

The system, which supporters say has advanced significantly since 2008 when then-Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III maligned it, would use acoustic sensors installed over at least three square miles in an undetermined community where guns are frequently fired.

The Police Department intends to use a $370,000 federal grant to help pay for the equipment, for which bids have been requested. Companies must submit proposals by Aug. 10.

[link to www.baltimoresun.com]
------

I'm going to start punching at this one right away.

Accoustic sensors? As in 'fucking microphones'? I don't think I'm stretching it here. They are receiving a Federal grant for this bullshit.
To start off, civil rights/SJW people are going to shit. They'll ask why a specific area is being targeted, which of course will open a new war front.
Just how can monitoring the sound of gunfire help to prove anything? They need to spend money to hear the fucking shot?
Or is this what I suspect it to be, a test run for audio monitoring of public spaces? Get people 'acclimated', and all that?
Too much BS here to simply brush aside. Might have to keep an eye on this one.

Pretrial motions set in Baltimore police Lt. Brian Rice's case
7/5/16

[link to m.wbaltv.com]

No Jury for Baltimore Officer Charged in Freddie Gray Death
7/4/16

There will be no trial by jury for the highest-ranking police officer charged in the death of a young black man whose broken neck inside a police van caused civil unrest in Baltimore.

Lt. Brian Rice has chosen to be tried instead by a judge, his lawyers said Tuesday — the same one who already acquitted two fellow officers in Freddie Gray's death.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams denied a defense motion to dismiss the case against Rice, whose trial begins Thursday on charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.

[link to abcnews.go.com]

Baltimore attorney in Freddie Gray case faces disbarment charges
7/5/16

When Maryland State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby lost her third straight trial against the the police officers involved in the Freddie Gray incident, we talked about how she might have an ethical responsibility to simply abandon the remaining trials and cut her losses. That may not be enough for some folks who are observing this fiasco, however. One Georgetown law professor has taken the unusual step of filing charges against Mosby, seeking her disbarment from the profession entirely.

[link to hotair.com]

Mulberry Street sinkhole widens; city inspector injured in fall down crater
7/5/16

Mulberry Street could be closed for weeks because of a growing sinkhole that may have developed undetected even as crews recently worked to replace a water main on the thoroughfare.

The crater, which initially spanned a single lane of the three-lane eastbound artery Monday, grew as rain fell overnight, by Tuesday stretching from one sidewalk to the other.

Part of the road collapsed under a veteran city inspector, and he had to be hospitalized after falling into the hole. He was released from the hospital Tuesday.

[link to www.baltimoresun.com]

----
There's some kind of symbolism or meaning at work here. It could have been anyone. But an inspector? Priceless. Glad he's not badly hurt.

I go out of town for one day, and all hell breaks loose.
I went to a town in western Maryland called Cumberland. An old railroad city up in the hills, quite a nice place to be. Quite a difference to anything that borders the City of Baltimore. But even out there, the problems that plague the big cities are creeping in. Sad. I really like the place.

And as much as I sorely need to catch up on the Dallas episode, there's some local news to cover. The ghost of Gray hasn't gone away quite yet.

Testimony continues in trial of Lt. Brian Rice
7/8/16

Rice is the officer who initiated the pursuit of Gray when he and two others were walking in west Baltimore on April 12, 2015. Gray ran off after Rice made eye contact with him.

University of Baltimore law professor David Jaros said the prosecution is working to lay the foundation of its case against Rice. He admits that barring the entry of evidence different from the other officers' trials, getting a conviction will be tough.

"This was always going to be a difficult case to prove," Jaros said. "While the evidence has been mildly different in this case, I believe an acquittal will be likely unless the state has some new evidence. "

[link to www.wbaltv.com]

Security Square Mall Closed After Bomb Threat
7/8/16

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Security Square Mall in Woodlawn has been shuttered for the day after a bomb threat was called in, according to Baltimore County Police.

[link to baltimore.cbslocal.com]

Dirt bike riders are not 'gun-toting criminals'
7/8/16

I regularly pass by a skatepark in the Hampden neighborhood's Roosevelt Park: basins of concrete lipped with steep curves and scores of skaters defying gravity. As I watch them whirl by, I've often wondered why such a space can't be carved out for dirt bike riders in Baltimore.

I need only look to Police Commissioner Kevin Davis to understand why there will never be a dirt bike park in Baltimore — and why it is unlikely that our "two Baltimores" will ever become one.

Announcing the creation of a task force to address illegal dirt bike riding in the city, he recently called dirt bike riders "gun-toting criminals who travel throughout the city recklessly, lawlessly and with impunity."

[link to www.baltimoresun.com]

----
This lady is clueless.

Boys, what do you think?

Hogan, Rawlings-Blake Respond To Dallas Shooting
7/8/16

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and others have issued separate statements Friday morning on the Thursday evening ambush of Dallas police.

[link to www.wbal.com]

Slaying of Dallas officers worries police in Maryland
7/8/16

"It's not as edgy [in Baltimore] as it was last year," said Lt. Kenneth Butler, president of the Vanguard Justice Society, an association for minority and women officers in Baltimore. But police here nonetheless feel "that we are under attack. … In 30 years, I've never seen anything like this."

In the aftermath of the week's events, nearly 200 protesters gathered Friday evening at the Inner Harbor holding placards decrying police brutality and blocking traffic, a gathering similar to some following Gray's death last year.

[link to www.baltimoresun.com]

Baltimore protest over police shootings shuts down traffic
7/8/16

While the protest remained peaceful on Friday night, police were working to keep marchers from approaching Camden Yards, where the Baltimore Orioles were playing the Los Angeles Angels.

"Nobody goes west on Pratt," a police official said over the scanner. "I don't want them going anywhere near the stadium."

[link to www.baltimoresun.com]

Woman dies after being stabbed in Roland Park
7/9/16

Officers were called to the 600 block of W. University Parkway around 11 p.m. and found the victim, Molly K. Macauley. She was taken to an area hospital, where she died.

Police have not identified a suspect or provided a description of one. Detectives talked with nearby residents Saturday, and the police presence in the community has been increased, police said.

Macauley was the vice president for research and a senior fellow with Resources for the Future in Washington, a think tank that produces research on the environment and natural resources. She joined the organization in 1983 and was also an adjunct economics professor at the Johns Hopkins University for nearly 20 years.

[link to www.baltimoresun.com]