The good news from Baltimore, best I understand it — and this is based on my non-knowledge from 220-miles away (ie: twitter and social media, a friend watching a live feed at TV studio, and a few police friends) — is that things seems to be calmer downtown.
I do not mean things are over. Certainly not for police officers working all night. It’s going to be a long night. I mean calmer in the sense I’m going to go to bed (unlike the BPD) and feel confident that police are in control, that the city won’t burn down overnight. It’s a good sign when social media posts go from describing violence and chaos to complaining about “Wildly disproportionate police presence for a couple dozen protesters.” That’s a very good sign.
When things get ugly, when it’s not about protest but violence, then you gotta go in there and make sure things do not explode. As a friend’s dad told him, don’t get in fight with police because they’re not in the habit of losing. The important thing is that everybody gets to go home alive.
Let’s hope the worst is over. Police used both force and restraint tonight. It’s a tough night to be BPD. To those I worked with and those I do not know: stay safe.