Free Republic

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) A Baltimore police sergeant said Friday that suspects are now trying to lure officers into physical altercations. He added that things are “about to get ugly.” Sgt. Lennardo Bailey told “Eastern Command Staff” that unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray has transformed into an environment where cops are increasingly challenged by suspects. “I have been to five calls today and three of those five calls for service; I have been challenged to a fight. Some of them I blew off but one of them almost got ugly. I don’t want anybody to say that I did...

BALTIMORE (WJZ/AP) — Ten thousand people are expected to come into Baltimore today to rally for justice for Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old man who died in police custody. After Friday’s announcement that the six police officers, involved in Gray’s arrest when he allegedly received his critical injuries, were charged celebrations began in the streets of Penn-North — the area where Monday’s violent riots started and the place where Gray was initially taken into police custody....

Bloods member Nikko Caldwell insisted in an interview with MSNBC’s Toure that the gang’s truce with their rivals the Crips would continue indefinitely because they have made the right ties with certain “political officials” in the city. The Cycle co-host completely dropped the ball after such a shocking admission, however, when he failed to ask Caldwell to name names. What’s more, when Pastor Donte Hickman insisted that tapping the “natural power and influence” of gangs like the Bloods and the Crips was “the democratic way,” Toure seemed completely unfazed. …

Oklahoma has repealed their version of the switchblade knife ban.   Baltimore has a similar law that Freddy Grey was arrested under before his death from a serious spinal cord injury, three fractured vertebrae, and a crushed voice box, apparently while in police custody.   The Baltimore law is more vague than the Oklahoma law HB 1911(pdf) , and the AG in Baltimore has ruled that the arrest was illegal, probably for two reasons. First, the knife was not concealed. The officer noted that he saw the knife clipped to the front pants pocket. Second, the knife was not a...

Freddie Gray's death in Baltimore is the latest in a rash of high-profile deaths of black men at the hands of police. In what has become a much-too-familiar pattern, there are questions about how Gray died and whether the officers who arrested him used excessive force, causing the neck injury that severed his spinal cord and, apparently, killed him. Bystander video taken during Gray's arrest shows that he was conscious and apparently not severely injured when he was loaded into a police van on April 12. Gray, 25, later died of a neck injury. The circumstances suggest that Gray's transportation...

As predicted in an article three days ago, before Governor Hassan  had made a definite statement, she says that she will veto the New Hampshire constitutional carry bill.   The bill has passed both the Senate and the House, but not by veto proof margins.  From unionleader.com: CONCORD — Before the House could take a vote Wednesday, Gov. Maggie Hassan said she would veto a bill that would repeal the requirement for a concealed firearms permit. The House passed the measure by at 212-150 margin. Governor Hassan did not explain why the requirement for a permit was necessary, given that...

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is not an easy person to take seriously, but her decision to give space to those “who wished to destroy” has at least made her interesting.Her office says she was misunderstood regarding her alarming “space to destroy” remark. However, it has been revealed that she did order police to stand down so that the rioters could destroy her city: Despite a firm denial by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a senior law enforcement source charges that she gave an order for police to stand down as riots broke out Monday night, raising more questions about whether some...

People who are trying to do good for their families and the planet by living a simple life based on traditional skills are facing yet another assault. Artisanal soap makers say new regulations, proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), will put them out of business. Many soap makers are rural “kitchen table” operations that rely on the income to fund their simple living lifestyle. Some use milk from goats they raise and ingredients they harvest from the land. The Handmade Cosmetic Alliance posted this form on its website that can be used to reach out...

The owners of Baltimore’s Sports Mart in Mondawmin Mall released surveillance video of ‘hundreds’ of looters rampaging through the family-owned business Monday night. The video shows Black men and women pouring in to the store and stealing everything in sight. The owners of the store are white. There are reports that non-Black-owned stores were targeted for looting by the Baltimore rioters.(VIDEO-AT-LINK)WJZ-TV in Baltimore aired the footage and interviewed the owners. They said the store was cleaned out–including the safe which was found in the street a block-and-half-away. WJZ reporter Amy Yensi said the store’s eleven employees have been laid off...

Dozens of people arrested in violent demonstrations this week in Baltimore were being released early Wednesday evening because police were unable to complete their paperwork in time, the state public defender's office said. The 101 detainees began walking free without charges about the same time that Baltimore police announced that their report into the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man who died in police custody this month, wouldn't be made public Friday. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts had set a deadline of Friday to file the report with state investigators. Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said late Wednesday afternoon that the...

Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley (D) urged fellow council members to pass a sweeping gun-control ordinance despite doubts that it would be effective or enforceable. “Will this measure stop gun violence?” Kelley asked. “Probably not, but it is important that we pass it as a reflection of our values.” A key provision of the new ordinance is that it prohibits carrying a concealed deadly weapon or handgun, unless the person is a police officer or a bonafide criminal. Kelley conceded that “this provision might seem paradoxical, but we feel it greatly simplifies and clarifies the situation. If you are...

New Hampshire has always been a state that seemed likely to be one of the first to pass constitutional carry, which allows people who may legally own guns to carry them either openly or concealed without a permit. While attempts have been made in the past several years, various mishaps have resulted in no bill being passed.  Sister state Vermont has the longest border with New Hampshire, and Vermont has had constitutional carry since 1791, and one of the lowest crime rates in the nation. This year House Bill 582 was killed in the criminal justice committee, and it...

CLEVELAND – Police arrested two male teens at Cleveland’s East Technical High School after a female student told authorities they raped her in a school computer lab last month. The 18-year-old alleged victim told police two of her male classmates, a 16-year-old she had prior relations with and his 18-year-old cousin, forced themselves on her in a school computer lab as school was letting out March 18, according to Cleveland.com.The girl told ABC 5 the 16-year-old asked her to meet him at the computer lab, she did, and that’s where he attempted to force himself on her.“I said ‘no’ like...

Whole Foods is donating food to National Guardsmen in Baltimore. And that makes Angry Black Lady, well, angry: This is tone-deaf, especially when thousands of school kids in Baltimore need lunch, @WholeFoods. #TWiBNation https://t.co/lSlQI2FGz9— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) April 28, 2015 And she’s not alone. Liberals furious at the upscale grocery store sent “Whole Foods” trending in the U.S. this afternoon. Whoa… Baltimore shuts down schools, denies 80%+ kids their only stable meal, & Whole Foods gives free lunches 2 Natl Guard whom has money?— DJ Big Will (@DJBigWill) April 28, 2015 I spent my last money with @WholeFoods last night....

BALTIMORE — Addressing questions about the police’s tempered response to unrest on Monday in Baltimore, a police spokesman said Tuesday that officers took a restrained approach early on because most of the people involved seemed to be minors. A social media campaign that appeared to be goading Baltimore residents into rioting on Monday afternoon was timed to 3 p.m., about when schools were being dismissed, Capt. J. Eric Kowalczyk of the Baltimore Police Department said Tuesday during a news conference. “When we deployed our officers yesterday, we were deploying for a high school event,” Captain Kowalczyk told reporters. “I don’t...

New Jersey will send 150 state troopers to help deal with rioting in Baltimore, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said during a news conference on Tuesday. “We’re asking for volunteers and donations,” Hogan said. “We’ve been in communication with other states to bring in resources. Governor Christie in New Jersey has agreed to send in 150 New Jersey State Troopers and assets to help us.” The Governor’s Office confirmed the deployment on Twitter. “I spoke directly with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan last night and let him know that New Jersey is offering our full support and solidarity in their efforts to...

Southbound on the I-15 towards San Diego County.

My brother, who lives in Arizona, is finally starting to see the light about arming himself and learning how to use it. Because it's Arizona, there are gun stores every 100 feet. ;-) Question..... What's the best way for him to find out who to patronize? Is there a website that reviews gun shops (for service, quality, knowledgeable staff, etc.)? My current advice is for him to go to a range or gun club that lets new shooters rent different models and has qualified instructors -- and also to ask lots of questions. Thanks friends.

New York City-based gay businessman Ian Reisner recently hosted a “fireside chat” with Sen. Ted Cruz in Manhattan. You read that correctly: a successful LGBT community member invited one of the most notoriously anti-LGBT politicians in the U.S. to his home. His business partner, Mati Weiderpass, even posted a photo of the two together on Facebook (seen above). Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass are called “pioneers in the gay hospitality industry” by The New York Times. The piece talks about how “opposition to President Obama,” the single best president on LGBT issues, was a focal point of the evening in...

Oh Lord: An overgrowth of Republican presidential candidate kudzu is blanketing South Carolina these days. The Palmetto state appears to be an imperative stopover for anybody who has even remotely thought about entering the 2016 Republican presidential primary. And there is a bunch of anybody’s. The first big boy appearance in the Upstate was the redoubtable radical, Canadian citizenship renouncing, Ted Cruz. Cruz is so far out there that those attending his speaking engagements are encouraged to show up in full space regalia. Cruz considers himself to be God’s candidate. To that end, he announced his intentions to run at...