That wasn’t true for much of West Baltimore, the epicenter of many of the disturbances and stand-offs with the police. The Penn North section and near Mondawmin Mall, evidence of the despair, frustration and reaction to the death of Gray was present all around. At the corner of North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, the looted stores and burned-out CVS store highlighted why so many news outlets flocked to the area. Torn apart by the protests and flooded with just as many onlookers as media, it was an uncomfortable reminder of where things have progressed.
Distrust of the media was also the order of the day, with several people refusing to speak with me or other reporters. As shared with me by a prominent Black television journalist who I’ll not name, it was a battle to get anyone to speak without a barrage of curse words aimed at them from the subject they were interviewing. Many Baltimoreans saw us as invaders or voyeurs and thanks to actions of some veteran reporters who should know better, that was rightfully so.
It was unfortunate to see what happened in the streets, the looting and such, but it was understood even by community leaders and activists who were largely against it. Many of those leaders expressed to the young demonstrators that their vigor was needed but tried to impart upon them that their approach would do more harm than good. There were intense exchanges just outside of the New Shiloh Baptist Church Monday night where Gray was buried earlier in the day, and at the conclusion of church-sponsored peace march, someone set a vehicle on fire possibly in defiance of the agreements that were just made.
