The Patriot Post® · Baltimore Riots Result in Tremendous Economic Loss

Six Baltimore police officers will be charged in the killing of Freddie Gray after enough evidence was gathered by prosecutors to warrant a trial. It’s welcome news to many — and perhaps rightly so. The officers may very well be guilty, but that’s for due process to determine. If the officers are indeed found to have engaged in negligent behavior, justice will be served, but not because it had anything to do with how hundreds of mobsters responded to Gray’s death. Rioters poured into the streets of Baltimore early this week in “protest,” injuring around a hundred officers, destroying businesses and looting. Sadly, many of these victims won’t see justice. Business shutdowns and property damage have resulted in tremendous economic loss. Wednesday’s Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards was the first one played in Major League Baseball history where all the fans were locked out. The Left assails conservatives for ostensibly not caring about the plight of impoverished minorities, yet this week’s rioters were on a mission to inflict exceptional economic damage — and they did.

The 1992 Los Angeles riots are estimated to have cost $3.8 billion over a decade, and some believe the Baltimore riots will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more. A #JusticeForFreddieGray protest is planned for this afternoon. If participants truly want to make a difference, they will call for an end to the thuggish behavior victimizing an untold number of innocent people. If Gray truly is innocent, engaging in criminal behavior — what they’re supposedly protesting against — is no way to honor his life.